Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
Recognizing Life’s Milestones as Blessings
Beyond the blessings that we experience constantly — such as the ability to walk, see, and breathe — we also experience special blessings at different stages of our lives.
For example, the privilege of becoming bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah, being accepted into the institution we hoped for, getting married, finding a home, having children, and many other milestones all represent our personal “encampments” along our journey.
From the Torah’s detailed description of the journeys of the Jewish People, we learn the importance of recording and reflecting upon the blessings we experience throughout our lives – in other words, to count our blessings.
A Story of Gratitude
A young girl began suffering from serious breathing difficulties. She visited many specialists, but they all admitted that they had never encountered a condition like hers and could not determine the cause of the problem.
The only advice they could offer was that she travel to Arizona, where the air is drier. However, after spending three weeks there, she returned home with little improvement.
The girl and her family felt discouraged and helpless. She decided that each night she would write in a journal ten good things that had happened to her that day.
On the forty-first day, she wrote:
“I am breathing well and without pain. Thank you, Hashem!”
By Rabbi Daniel Shasha, author of “Living Appreciation”
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