Counting our blessings: We should learn to be thankful for the many good things in life that we often take for granted

Updated: Sunday March 9, 2014 MYT 7:21:10 AM

Counting our blessings

BY SOO EWE JIN

We should learn to be thankful for the many good things in life that we often take for granted.

THERE are some realities in life that we sometimes find difficult to embrace.

That with joy, comes sorrow. With good times, the necessary trials and tribulations. And with life, death.

Events, even the most significant ones, are remembered mainly by dates and destinations.

Which is a shame, because the journeys are what truly count.

And so, even at funerals, we are surprised when the lives of the deceased are relived through the eulogies, and we realise how little we know about them because we were never part of the journeys.

I lost a dear friend recently. She came into my life in April 2000, when I started work atThe Star.

Her husband was part of my team, and over our first cup of Milo together at the staff canteen, he shared with me about his wife’s incredible journey.

When she was first diagnosed with leukaemia, the doctors gave her six months to live.

Her husband confided that at the time, all he asked from God was for her to live another five years at least. She survived for another 22 years.

Over the years, our friendship bloomed in her home which was always warm and welcoming, and also in the hospital, which was practically her second home.

Much of her life revolved around the hospital where she was prepared to try out experimental drugs and treatment procedures.

While she rejoiced each time something worked, she also took the disappointments in stride.

After all, she told me, someone else will definitely benefit down the line even if it was her body that was being subjected to the battery of tests.

When I was going through my journeys, she always found time to encourage me.

She cooked healthy vegetarian meals for me, even from her wheelchair. And when I was back to normal, she gave me a steady supply of banana fries, muruku, and coconut candy, all made with her loving hands.

She read this column diligently, and never failed to call to say “thanks” each time I wrote something that resonated with her.

In sharing one part of her journey, I was also blessed to share a part of her husband’s journey.

And I cannot even describe my admiration for this man’s tenacious spirit in taking such great care of his wife.

Though he had his own health problems, he was always concerned for his wife first.

We may be of different faiths, but I can see the love of God clearly magnified in the life of this couple.

At another funeral last week, I learnt about a man who touched so many lives because he loved to run errands and always went the extra mile to do things for others, like paying bills and buying teatime snacks.

And he also had a vital role to play each Sunday at his church where he served as a traffic warden.

His friends shared about his cheerful demeanour and how he directed traffic with such efficiency.

After the funeral was over, I told myself that each time I pass by a traffic policeman on duty, I will wave at him and say Terima Kasih.

It’s the least I can do to appreciate someone who has to work under the hot sun while the rest of us pass by him in air-conditioned comfort.

There are indeed many blessings in life we take for granted.

We should learn to be thankful, and to count them one by one.

> Soo Ewe Jin (ewejin@thestar.com.my) is thankful that his path crosses occasionally with people who show him how to live without regrets.