When I’m worried, and I can’t sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep, and I fall asleep counting my blessings.

Irving Berlin

For the past two mornings my friend, Diane, has been live on Facebook talking about working from home and counting her blessings. It’s a nice little pep talk to get the day started.

Since this morning I have had the song “Counting My Blessings” from the movie White Christmas swirling in my head. This song was written in 1954 by the master song writer, Irving Berlin. Irving wrote this song as a result of a conversation he had with his doctor. Berlin was suffering from insomnia caused by stress; he was complaining to his doctor and feeling a lot of self-pity when his doctor said to him, “speaking of doing something about your insomnia, did you ever try counting your blessings?”

I have included the song below in case you are not familiar with it.

Today, I am counting my blessings.

• Facetime – it gives me the opportunity to see my grandchildren when being physically with them is impossible. Their sweet faces and wonder filled eyes never cease to bring a smile to my face, and warmth to my heart.
• My colleagues – who have been so willing to share their expertise as we move to online learning. They are supportive, helpful, and add just the right touch of humor to the situation.
• My students – they have been patient with me as I post in Google Classroom, and they gently point out my mistakes to help me fix what needs to be fixed.
• My online communities – what a blessing the outpouring of resources, supportive words, and advice have been. I am especially grateful for my SOL community. Writing is helping to ease the stress.

So when my head hits the pillow tonight, and my eyes are wide open thinking about the latest news update, I am going to “count my blessings instead of sheep,” and I hope to “fall asleep counting my blessings.”

Stay well.