Count Your Blessings!

Borghild Dahl was born practically blind. She had only one “working” eye. I use the term working loosely, because her one eye was covered with scars so thick, it made it nearly impossible for her to see anything at all. In order to read, she would have to hold the book as close to her eye as possible, her lashes practically touching the page, and even then, she’d have to strain her eye just to see a little bit.

As a child she couldn’t play hopscotch because she couldn’t see the numbers and squares on the ground. But because she didn’t want to be considered different than anyone else, she’d get on her hands and knees, get her one eye as close to the concrete as possible, then memorize every square inch where there was a marking. It didn’t take her long to become an expert at the game.

Maybe some kids would have said, “Who wants to play hopscotch anyway? It’s a stupid game!” But Ms. Dahl was determined.

So determined was she, that later on she went to school and earned two college degrees. She became a teacher and taught for 13 years. Then a miracle happened! In 1943, when she was 52 years old, an operation at the Mayo Clinic improved her vision so that she could see 42 times better than she could before.

Everything came to life—soap bubbles while doing dishes, the flapping wings of a sparrow, snow—things most of us take for granted.

How often do we really pay attention to soap suds, or notice the colors of everything we see, or the way birds move through the skies?

Ms. Dahl’s near blindness made her appreciate everything! She thanked God to be able to see the brilliant colors of soapsuds in the light.

We don’t have to wait for blindness to appreciate what we have. We can start appreciating everything today.

“If you want to stop worrying and start living . . . Count your blessings—not your troubles!” ~Borghild Dahl