Count Your Blessings

Sherry Williams White shares an exercise she used with the firefighters in NYC after 911 to help them find perspective and grab on to small pieces of hope so they could cope with their losses and learn to live again. This exercise does not negate the loss but helps those who are grieving see that even in the middle of crisis - good things continue to happen to them.

by Sherry Williams White

In the midst of your grief, it if very often difficult to see that anything in the world is good. It is even more difficult to believe that anything good is happening to you.

Try this exercise. It will help you see and hear that there are good things happening to you and around you; 

        •Get a mason jar and several rolls of pennies

        •At the beginning of each day, put a penny in the jar each time something good happens to or around you.

(For instance, the sun is shining or it is raining and we so needed the rain, my friend stopped by with a casserole, my          granddaughter gave me a hug, my wife fixed my favorite meal, etc.)

        •Each evening look at the jar and see that there are good things happening to you and around you

        •Then take the jar and shake it and hear that good things are happening to you and around you

As you involve your senses in this exercise, you can see that you are not alone, that there love, hope and good in the midst of your pain. You may have to look for it, but it is there.

There are some blessings to be found even in your grief. Look for joy, it is there, you just have to trust yourself and reach out to others.

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