Focus on What You Have

 Growing up I always wished I knew my grandparents. All of my grandparents passed away before my first birthday and I remember growing up and feeling slighted that I did not have any one to sit with me at Grandparents' Day in elementary school, tell me about what my parents were like growing up (yes, they have siblings that can do this), or just do whatever grandparents do. Mind you although my biological grandparents are deceased, my maternal grandmother's best friend is alive and has always been in my life. She would send me gifts for my birthday and Christmas, we would visit her occasionally every couple of years and she would visit us. She attended my high school and college graduations and even let me live with her for free one summer when I was interning in New York and the list goes on. 

One day it dawned on me, that I had a grandmother. It might not have been either of my parent's mothers, but she stood in the gap for them. I lacked nothing. I was so focused on what I thought I did not have, that I did not fully appreciate what I did have. I still have a loving, wise almost 100 year old woman in my life. I may not call her grandma, nana, or Big Mama, but that does not take away who she's been in my life.

What perceived lack have you focused on in your life? Do you already have something else in abundance that covers that area? Focus on that.

I was listening to a podcast by Myleik Teele and she said something to the effect of "people always think the grass is greener on the other side, but the grass is actually greener where you water it." That really struck me because I think we as people often want some thing we do not have or we idealize or idolize (both can apply here) what someone else has. What the quotation reminds us it that that we have the power to better our circumstances or change our perspective on situations. We do not have to wait to hit the lotto or to get a new job and we can not go back in time and change the past, but we can make conscious decisions to focus on what we have and invest in that and as a result we'll likely live happier, more joy-filled lives.