One. Two. Three. Four. Five. That could be you either counting your blessings or losses. Whenever you look back at how 2024 has been to you as December approaches, you should decide what to count. Some may count the good moments. For others, it would only be the bad ones.

Life will throw some bitter things at us. Sometimes, the congratulatory messages would cease. At times, there would be regrets instead of applause. It is, however, solely up to us to either chew on the sad moments and drown in disappointment or lunge at the few great moments and be hopeful.

As the curtains are gradually being drawn on another year, this is a time of reflection ─ a time for taking stock of our lives. While we take a retrospect of how our year went, we should not forget to INTENTIONALLY count our blessings.

No matter what we may have lost, we have life today ─ and this is the greatest gift of life. Life is the beginning point of life. It is only when you have life that you can dream. You should be a living being to want to earn a degree or make any progress. As long as 2024 did not take your life away, praise your life away!

One of my favorite hymns is Johnson Oatman Jr.’s Count Your Blessings. That hymn always nudges me to be grateful when life reminds me to count my losses. When we intentionally count our blessings, we notice that we have not celebrated ourselves enough. This may be because we have given all our attention to what we wished to have had… and not what we have.

In life, you will always be filled with ingratitude when you waste all your gaze on what you have lost. Gratitude pays attention to the moments of joy despite the raging storms of affliction. A grateful heart is peace. It does not pretend there are no hard times. Instead, it focuses on the good times… no matter how little.

Some find it hard to even admit they are blessed. They have somewhat concluded that blessings are what they can touch with their hands ─ cars, shoes, and clothes among others. Until they have any of these, they are not blessed.

Tell you what, the greatest blessings are not cars. They are not even houses or expensive phones. What is a vehicle to a man who has no eyes? What is the essence of a house to a woman who has no life? The greatest blessings are not what we can see. They are what we cannot see. Redefine what a blessing means to you!

We are all greatly blessed but many will die never knowing this. They would live all their lives chasing what they do want while taking for granted what they do need. You have what you need in this life. While desiring what you want, count these blessings!

Both gratitude and ingratitude are a mindset. The former is grateful for what they cannot do with. The latter is ungrateful for what they can do with. Look within. There is enough to be thankful for. If indeed there is nothing to be grateful for, your gaze is fixed on the wrong places.

When we are intentional about counting our blessings, we begin to see life from a whole new perspective. When your car breaks down, you thank God that, at least, you have a car. When you get ill, you are grateful that hitherto, you had good health. Every opportunity is an opportunity to be thankful.

Gratitude is longevity. It increases our lifespan. It takes worry far away from us and draws us closer to peace of mind. We enjoy the moment we live in while thinking less about what may have gone wrong.

Of a truth, life will throw at us what we focus on. Those who focus on pain will keep reliving it in different situations each day. For those who are filled with gratitude, life will hurl at them more opportunities to be grateful for.

Gratitude, just like ingratitude, is a choice. The storms of life will never cease. The rejections will keep strangling us. The heartbreaks and disappointments will keep getting in our way. However, we have to use all these setbacks to our advantage.

Every disadvantage is an advantage to those who are grateful. They see the other side of the coin all others take for granted. Gratitude makes people magnify their blessings so their losses can look insignificant. Despite the thousand losses, all a grateful person reflects on is the single blessing that brings them a smile.

You may have lost your job, but count the opportunity to have children as a blessing. You may have tried fruitlessly to have a child this year, but count your marriage as a blessing. You could not make it to the university this year but count as a blessing your desire to even advance in life. Change what your gaze is on!

The only place we cannot count blessings is in the grave. When life shuts us in a coffin, there is no time to count what we have and what we do not. Today is a fine opportunity to be grateful. Despite your failures, pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself on the small successes. A small success today, at least, means there can be greater success tomorrow.

Be intentional about reminding yourself each day that you are blessed. You have something that is enough to make you thankful.

Go out there and be a blessing to others because that is just who you are. Intentionally count your blessings and name them one by one. All may not be well but assure yourself that it is well. A desire for perfection is sometimes an illusion that steals our sense of gratitude. If you are waiting to have everything to be grateful for something, you will never be grateful for anything.

Merry Christmas in advance. If you are based in Takoradi, you are invited to our free Christmas production, AND GOD CAME DOWN, on Tuesday, 24th December 2024 at Central Assemblies of God, opposite the Central Police Station. Time is 6 pm. Cheers!

Kobina Ansah is a Ghanaian playwright and Chief Scribe of Scribe Communications (www.scribecommltd.com), an Accra-based writing firm.