As Blessed as I Believe Myself to Be

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #4:

Blessed

I've been avoiding this prompt.

Why did I choose to add "blessed" to the list? I dunno. I guess I thought it would be easy to come up with a post inspired by "blessed," but I was wrong. It's not easy. "Blessed" is complicated. I know that I am very blessed, but here's the thing:

I am as blessed as I believe myself to be. 

The dictionary definitions of "blessed" don't ring quite true to what I believe it means to be blessed. Most of the definitions are along the lines of having good fortune. I don't like those definitions because they allude to some kind of dumb luck.

Being blessed is so much more than that. I believe in God, and therefore; I believe that blessings are intentional and have purpose. Sometimes we have to earn them. Sometimes they are granted freely because they are what's best for us. Sometimes they aren't recognizable until we've walked through sorrow. Sometimes they aren't what we want initially, but over time, we begin to see them for what they really are.

(cue "Unanswered Prayers" by Garth Brooks)

Blessings come in so many different ways, but to truly be "blessed" is not simply to have good fortune. It's to be given something and then to acknowledge it with gratitude.

I am as blessed as I believe myself to be.