By Francis Shaw, author of  The Blessing Book

“The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.”

A little gift from the heavens is how tradition has explained blessings, which makes the words above, penned by the atheist philosopher, Eric Hoffer, an invitation to look deeper. To consider, beyond only expressing gratitude for the gifts we receive, are deeper enigmatic insights waiting for us to unravel, where the benefits of blessings quietly wait for our discovery.

We have openly admitted, apart from struggling with the math, are other layers we have left to spiritual masters to ponder, limiting our understanding by variously describing blessings as mixed and disguised. Leaving them hidden, a simple choice. There is a comfort being wrapped in the blanket of mystery. It doesn’t require explanation and we use it frequently to a keep a distance between ourselves and truths we say are unknowable. In a world so full of connectivity, we are better placed now than perhaps ever to peer under the veil, to take courage that the truth blessings reveal desires to be discovered.

What keeps us away is not our feelings of foolishness or inadequacy, but knowing how to start. Questions are our entry into all our unknowns. It’s how each journey begins, and how we begin our blessing quest.

What do we want from them? What do they want from us?

We want to know we are loved, valued, and accepted. That our pleas for help are heard above all the noise. These are the requests all children of the universe express because we recognize our vulnerability, a word which comes from the Latin, vulnerabilis – wounding. Hurting, we want reassurance of our protection. That all will be well. Blessings fulfill those desires. Sometimes the mist lifts and we recognize their significance, expressing our gratitude, but often our bleeding emotional wounds are the tears we shed. The gift excused as coincidence, a fluke, as the universe decides whether the coin lands on heads or tails—contentment or disappointment.

Settling for less is hard to budge. Made more difficult when we should feel blessed and don’t. Vulnerability has the power to drown us in waves of disillusionment or raise us above the raging sea as warriors for hope, belief, and the compassion we feel when our soul is touched deeply.

The beauty of life is in discovering what we have missed or misunderstood, and blessings are no different. They are not platitudes to stifle our weeping. Nor messages with hidden meaning. They do not demand change or seek admittance of mistakes or sorrows.

Blessings ask us to trust.

My great boss had changed departments. New people arrived. Rumors of change on the grapevine. The call came. My job? Gone. After ten years at the company and for the fourth time in my life, I had been re-organized out. Change, but a blessing?

My previous boss called. There may be a job in her department. Two months passed until confirmation arrived. Into international I stumbled. Travel, required. Change, but a blessing?

Unsure of my new role, the phone rang on Thursday of my first week. My boss needed me in Paris, France, on Monday. Opportunity to practice my four words of French. Change, but a blessing?

Weeks passed. A plan, formulated. Pairs decided. Over the next six months, I traveled back and forth from the USA to Nice, France, with my German colleague. Change, but a blessing?

As the project wound down, was change calling me again? To what? To where? Love had unexpectedly blossomed.

Twelve years have passed since I rejected inaction as the message of blessings, because blessings are not just what we receive with gratitude. They are a call to action, not to change, but to transform. To become more than we were before. Blessings, through the power of love, close our wounds with scars formed by forgiveness, kindness, and acceptance. The blessing invitation reminds us of what is possible when we give up our worries and embrace trust as our guide.

Answering the blessing call took me from my England homeland to the USA to Germany, where I live with my wife and three inherited children, now grown. We cannot afford to live life in hindsight. To accept feeling stuck with the what ifs change presents. Blessings always speak the language of what is. Nothing is hidden. Connections are waiting for us to stumble upon and embrace as our very own. Invitations to see ourselves and our lives differently through the immense power of blessings, which call us to listen and act.

You are not here by accident or mistake. You are neither small, nor insignificant. No others smile is like yours…no others kindness is in your glow. No others touch the world with your light, except you. No others feel as your spirit feels, nor embrace another as you do. No others experience your journey through your eyes and with your heart. No others have the unique blessings waiting for you.