count your blessings | The Oasis at Four Queen Palms

Recently, I decided to tag along with Best Friend to an appointment. I had some free time, so why not?

That beautiful Thursday morning offered refreshingly cool, fresh-smelling air. The sun shone brightly in a cloudless sky, and traffic into town was light. The cattle that are usually in the fields must have been sleeping in the barn because I didn’t see any as we drove along the back road.

We arrived early for his appointment, and while he was busy, I remained in the waiting room. I tried to read a book, but the otherwise serene room was shattered by an elderly man who was loudly combative with one of the staff (she was being so pleasant and patient with him, on the other hand). Well, that bruhaha kept me from reading.

Within a few minutes, Best Friend returned to get me so that we could leave, but not before the combative man stormed out of the building in front of us, his meek wife following.

By the time Best Friend and I got to the parking lot, Angry Man had just gotten into his car, slammed the car door, and started backing out of his space without looking. We were right there, paused on the sidewalk, and he was so quick in backing out and slamming his car into “drive” that it seemed he stripped his gears. He nearly ran us over. He flipped us the finger and shouted something. And he squealed his tires down the parking lot to the main road.

By the time we got to the main road in our car, he was stuck in the middle of the street. Traffic was heavy and drivers in both directions were attempting to maneuver around him.

It’s really sad that some people choose to take out their unhappiness and anger on everyone around them rather than work on resolving whatever problem they have. It’s really unproductive to spread anger, hate, and negativity. Plus, it foments further negativity throughout the world, even if that world at the moment is within the immediate surroundings. It’s bad enough the world beyond our own private spheres is spiraling towards discord, hatred, and a hot war.

On the way back that morning, Best Friend and I headed for breakfast at one of our favorite casual restaurants, and the pleasantness of the waitress, Theresa, and the owner, Lisa, and the laughter and light conversations from the other patrons proved that happiness, serenity, and positivity are far more productive in building a blissful environment.

As ever,

Lady Susan Marie Molloy

As Irving Berlin wrote in his song, “Count Your Blessing (Instead of Sheep),” written for the 1954 movie, White Christmas:

When I’m worried and I can’t sleep

I count my blessings instead of sheep

And I fall asleep counting my blessings.

When my bankroll is getting small

I think of when I had none at all

And I fall asleep counting my blessings.

There is so much from which to learn, for those 43 words give much food for thought. Even I sometimes fall into the doldrums from time to time, particularly when events and people from outside the walls of The Oasis at Four Queen Palms to enter and upset the pacific atmosphere here. I know that they do not deserve that power, and for the most part, I don’t let their silly nonsense infiltrate. Yet, it isn’t a 100 per cent stoppable guarantee. Life happens; it’s how I handle the garbage that counts. With that said, I discovered a 1913 book by Fannie Dickerson Chase, Good Form and Social Ethics, which also puts forth a cornucopia of points for us that are well worth the time to ponder. Here, I will share some of what she wrote:

Do not be a slave to other people’s opinions. As I see it, don’t be a willow tree in the breeze, bending this way and that, taking other people’s opinions as your own. Don’t fall into the “your opinion is my opinion” mantra. Gosh. To me, and to others, that means you have no thoughts of your own, and we mind as well just be talking to ourselves.

Be quick to forgive. If we are still marinating in something we think another person did to us years ago, let it go, for Pete’s sake! Learn from what happened and stop wallowing in it.

Magnify your joys. The world is, and always will be, filled with grief and ordeals, but it is also filled with good and rewards. To alleviate one’s own bitterness is to remember that other people are experiencing even heavier trials and emotions.

Hear accurately and speak accurately. No one likes to hear misinformation, nor gossip.

Do not be a servant to your moods. By the same token, don’t drag others into your moodiness. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. It is not productive, nor becoming.

Do the right thing. Be honorable, keep your promises regardless of how you might feel towards the person to whom you made that promise.

Be slow to discredit another’s word or action. It is best to believe in others until you find absolute substantiation to not believe in them.

Do not be soured and worried by disappointments. Take your disappointments gracefully, for they have been given to you for a greater purpose.

Do not be thoughtless. Lapses of courtesy does not bode well.

Be truthful. If you fib your way through life, one day, people will – and they do! – eventually discover that you’ve been a fraudster.

Be sympathetic. You may not really know the true story about the other person.

These, and the many other points that are made in the book, are words to live by throughout the year. I bring this topic up now during the holiday season to point out that this time of year should be more joyful, more calming, and more twinkling than ever. Yes, the world seems to be careening towards the Dark Side more and more each day, yet we need to maintain the sanity, happiness, joy, and true good in ourselves despite the ugliness. Don’t let the Devil overtake your life.

Make your holiday season classy.

As ever,

Lady Susan Marie Molloy

✿●▬▬▬▬●✿●✿●▬▬▬▬●✿

The Oasis at Four Queen Palms

Gracious Living at The Oasis.

Tag Archives: count your blessings

Angry Man.

Gracious Holiday Living – Part III.