Imagine living in a beautiful mansion
with a scenic view of the countryside. You own the finest furniture. Your yard
is landscaped with beautiful flowers and cascading waterfalls. A Lamborghini
and a Bentley are parked in your garage.
Add one more factor to your hypothetical world. You’re blind. Although you own the finest of everything, you can’t enjoy them because YOU CAN’T SEE THEM. Now you understand that you already own one of the most valuable things you could possibly have—your eyesight.
Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, is one of the richest men in the world. In 1997, he was giving a speech to 1,500 people at a convention in Seattle. After Gates’s speech, a medical doctor stood up and asked a question. “Mr. Gates,” he asked, “If you were blind, would you trade all your money to have your sight restored?” At the time, Bill Gates’s personal wealth was $35 billion. Gates thought for a moment and said, “If I were blind, yes, I would give up all my money to receive my sight.”
Since you’re reading this, you already have your sight. Suppose someone offered you $35 billion if you would give up your eyesight. You would be blind for the rest of your life, but you’d be rich. Would you do it? I don’t think so.
But many people aren’t enjoying life, even though they are surrounded by every blessing imaginable. They just CAN’T SEE THEM.
A friend of mine lives in Florida a few miles from Kennedy Space Center. I told him, “It must be fun watching the space shuttle launches and going to the beach all the time.” He replied, “I never go to the beach and I don’t even go outside my house to watch the space shuttle launch.” I asked, “Why?” He said, “I’ve seen them so many times it’s no big deal.” And there lies the problem.
When we see the same blessings every day, we eventually stop noticing them. When we stop noticing, we quit appreciating. When we quit appreciating, we stop thanking. When we stop thanking, we start complaining.
I thank God from my heart every day for saving me, for my wife, family, house, cars, electricity, water, air-conditioning, etc. I see them. I appreciate them. And I thank God for them. Can you SEE all the blessings God has given you? www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com www.makinglifecount.net
