“B GR8FUL”

The license plate on the car in front of me during a long stretch of monotonous highway read, “Be grateful.”  I couldn’t help but wonder if this was a personal message to me, just returning from a wonderful weekend with my parents in Florida, or if it was meant for all who read it, spreading a positive message during uncertain times.

My husband and daughter were snoozing in the car and I was pensive as usual behind the wheel, thinking about everything from the economy, to finances, to family to you name it.  I, like many of you, am worried about the state of our economy and where it will leave our generation in the years to come.  I worry about my daughter and her education; will she be okay during this craziness we are experiencing?  Will she have work in the future?  Will the economy bounce back or are we headed for a recession?  So many people struggling.  News images of drought, famine, earthquakes, shootings, a downed military helicopter.

The worries seemed endless and my mind began to wander while I was driving.  Then I saw the simple license plate: “B GR8FUL.”  I know that I had an instant calm when I saw it.  I know that was a message for me to take these worries and transfer them into appreciation for all that we do have.  When you look at the grand scheme of things, we really do have so much to be grateful for.  So the next time your mind races with an endless stream of worries, try to shift your thoughts to appreciation.  You’ll feel much better!

© 2011, The Estate Lady

6 thoughts on ““B GR8FUL”

  1. Excellent post today ! All of your posts are gems, but this one is especially valuable and speaks so much truth. We are constantly bombarded…as in “bombed” with terrible images and messages of powerful negativity, til we are so immersed in the toxic atmosphere, we don’t know what is really happening in our world.

    There is so much to be grateful for, regardless of what the mass media tells us. A solution is to TURN IT OFF, as best we can, and focus on what we have instead of what we “are supposed to” fear.

    I appreciate every one of your posts, and the work you do for your clients is so very important.

    Melissa C Williams
    Essential Life Choices
    Boise, Idaho

    1. Melissa, you just made my day! Thank you for your words which ring true.
      Thank you for taking the time out of your day to email me. Have a blessed one!

      Julie Hall

  2. Just after the 4th of July this year they were interviewing people on TV who had just become naturalized citizens. Each one of them was so grateful to be a United States Citizen. Several said that “You just don’t know what you have in this country. You can be anything you want to be.” Another person said: “I just don’t understand Americans. Too many people, all they do is complain.” Those people made me realize that we are so fortunate to be in this country, regardless of all the problems. So I too am GR8FUL

  3. I found your website quite by accident. You see, my parents both passed away suddenly leaving me as executor. I cherished my parents and miss them dearly. I have made good choices in my life and career. My only sibling did not. As such, my dad chose me as executor. She was devastated since she was older. She quickly drove off the ‘responsibility’ truck as did her family. It has been only five years since their passing and she recently (and reluctantly) informed me that she was broke and had gone through all her inheritance. She made very poor choices and has nothing to show for it. Her husband is in jail and has a couple of girlfriends (all on drugs). I am so afraid what she will do now that she is broke and her husband will be released soon. We are co-owners of a lovely lake home with all my family’s belongings in it. She has stopped paying for the expenses related to the home. I just got laid off and therefore cannot buy her out. It tears my heart to pieces knowing that she will get more money once I liquidate the contents of the home. She will surely blow that money too. I am going to purchase your book in hopes that I find an answer to my dilemma. My father spent his life providing for his family. He was a career military, devoted church goer and loved his family. I am sure he is in heaven looking down in disbelief over what his eldest child has done. All too common with this generation. What a shame. We all need to be more grateful for what our parents have done instead of shaming their memories. Thanks for your efforts.

    1. It’s sad but true, that we in the industry hear these stories everyday, several times a day. All you can do, is be true to yourself as a person and the executor, and honor your parents the best way you know how. By honoring them, you bring “all that is good” to the situation.

      I once heard a wise man say, “You can never take personally what someone else says or does. That comes from them, not you. You’re simply in the way.” You may understand clearly that those decisions are less than healthy, but they are her choices to make. Either she will learn from these errors in judgment or she won’t. Just do your best, and I wish you well.

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