Count Your Blessings Poem by Frank Avon

In my old age (would that I had learned sooner) , I follow this regimen carefully. Everyday a list of five blessings of the day. I don't let myself repeat during a month (otherwise, my wife would be one of the five every day, and my children another) . I don't elaborate or discuss or go into great detail. Coming up with five is never difficult; limiting myself to five. Nothing negative is permitted; except I do allow myself a black box when I must (the death of a friend or a national hero, a national crisis) : to omit such momentous concerns would falsify and sentimentalize my efforts. On the first and fifteenth of every month, I do back three months and read the entries for 15 or 16 days, clarifying when I need to, enjoying the memories. Every once in a while, I go back a year (or longer) .