Re: Teri Helton’s Nov. 23 column, “Practice of gratitude can help to go beyond ‘Why Me?'”
As Helton states: “Beyond tragedies, include those that happen daily to individuals we know and ever to us: the diagnosis of metastatic cancer, job loss, bankruptcy, the death of a child and more. Is it no wonder we tend to ask, ‘Why me?’ “
She went on to say that Job in the Hebrew Bible asked the same thing we do: “Why me?” and that “Buddha taught that one should be grateful for suffering and trials.”
The above makes me think about Helen Keller and how courageously she dealt with blindness and deafness. She said, “I thank God for my handicaps, for through them, I have found myself, my work and my God.”
According to Helton, “As Helen Keller shows us, gratitude has the power.”
Changing the the world is possible, as Helton states, if we realize we can go beyond “Why me?” and build a healthier you. Thus, realize your gifts in order to be able to express them during this holiday season.
You will be grateful that you have been able to improve the world with your attitude of gratitude and your attitude to improve what you can.
November 26, 2013 Ventura County Star