Counting blessings therapeutic

I've been a little bit of a roller coaster lately.

I would perk up for brief periods of time, then the exhaustion and the feeling of "I don't want to be here" would set in again.

I spent Monday-Wednesday of last week and the entire week before in a funk. I didn't want to be at work; I didn't want to socialize. I didn't want to do much of anything.

I immediately perked up on Thanksgiving Day when I woke up and knew my parents and other family would be getting into town in a few short hours. I had a wonderful weekend filled with lots of chaos, but lots of fun.

Come Monday morning, the dark cloud was back over my head again. I didn't want to go to work; I didn't want to talk to people; I didn't want to be nice and be the face of customer service. I wanted the world to go away and leave me alone.

I've no doubt that there are several factors that have been playing into these mood swings, but the fact is only I can determine my attitude toward the world. No one else can change my attitude toward life. It's up to me to do so.

So I began my daily regimen of citing a list of blessings in my life to myself every morning.

• I have an amazing husband, who is always there to love and support me, no matter what my mood.

• I have a roof over my head and food in my cabinets.

• I have a solid, steady income each and every month; I no longer barely survive from month-to-month.

• I have the ability and resources to give my family a fun-filled Christmas when others have no idea if their family will have any Christmas at all.

• I've been given the amazing opportunity to run a newsroom and manage multiple publications, as well as be allowed to do what I love most: Write.

I could go on.

I accidentally stumbled upon an anonymous quote while on Google the other day:

"Don't think of the things you didn't get after praying. Think of the countless blessings God gave you without asking."

Blessings come in all shapes and sizes, and I think we sometimes take for granted all of the small blessings we have in our lives. I'm very fortunate, and every time I start to feel down or overwhelmed, I'm going to repeat that list to remind myself of how very fortunate I am.

What blessings have come your way this year? If anyone cares to share, you know where to find me.

Alisa Boswell is managing editor for the Portales office of The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact her at: [email protected]