Meaning of Idiom ‘Count Your Blessings’
To count your blessings means to be grateful for what you have in life and not to dwell on what you do not have.
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Examples Of Use
“Stop complaining about your job and count your blessings. In this economy, you’re lucky to be working.”
“When you’re young you continually look forward to what you will have or achieve. When you’re older, you learn to count your blessings.”
“My mother always said to count your blessings; things could always be worse.”
Origin
The word blessing in this idiom is used in the sense of “a thing conducive to happiness or welfare.” (Merriam-Webster) The expression is not a literal instruction to count these things, but to simply be aware of them so as to keep oneself from becoming sad about misfortune. However, the idiom probably has a religious origin, based on the idea that one should count the blessings that God has bestowed on them, or, in a broader sense, the good things that others or simple Providence have bestowed on them.
It is said that there is an ancient Hebrew tradition that one should try to receive 100 blessings a day. Therefore, at the end of the day, it is necessary to count your blessings to see if you have received 100. Whether or not this story is true, and whether the idiom derived from it is unknown, but it is interesting to note.
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