61 things

I just said my first-ever rosary. And do you know what? That's a lot of beads!

There's - hang on...59 beads on that thing! And I think you're supposed to pray on the crucifix and the Virgin Mary connector thing too, so that makes 61 prayers. 61 prayers! That's a lot of prayers, people!

Why did I choose today to say my first-ever rosary? Well, I've developed a schedule to keep me on course during this time of unemployment. As soon as I got laid off I sat down and made a list of things that I need to do to keep myself healthy, productive and calm. One of things I'm supposed to do is meditate for 5 minutes a day.

The only problem is, when I meditate unsupervised, I tend to fall asleep. Which was kind of counter-productive to the rest of my daily tasks.

So I changed 'meditate' to 'pray' and decided that I would spend 5 minutes of every day in prayer.

That started off okay, but after a couple of minutes my mind wandered and I discovered I was making a grocery list in my head.

So today I pulled out my rosary. I got it for my First Communion in the 3rd grade. I've always liked that rosary; it has pretty glass beads that sparkle different colors under the light. In fact, there have been difficult periods in my life where I took to carrying it with me everywhere I went. I would often pour the beads through my fingers, comforted by the feel of the rosary in my hands.

But I never actually figured out how to use it.

So today I took the thing out and gave it a test drive. I thought it might help me get through my 5 minutes of prayer without my mind wandering.

I should have counted those damn beads first.

I didn't say Hail Marys. I didn't say Our Fathers. Instead, I said Thanksgivings. I said Thank You for 61 things today. And when I finished I felt abundantly blessed.

And as soon as I put my rosary away I started thinking of things I forgot to count! So now I have a head start on tomorrow.

61 things. Life can never be too bad if you can find 61 things to be thankful for.

I wholeheartedly recommend giving this a try, especially on a day when you're feeling gloomy. It'll brighten you right up.

But be forewarned - it takes more than 5 minutes.