A group of women were talking about loss. One feels the effects of her aging brain, and how words disappear when she reaches for them. 

"I knew I would gradually lose my marbles, I just didn't think they would clatter all over the floor."

Another person told us what she says in her role as a chaplain. 

"When I visit someone who has lost a limb, or mobility, I ask what is something that no one can take away?" 

I was touched. I recall Corrie ten Boom writing in her book The Hiding Place that the Nazis stole many things, but they could not rob her of her ability to pray.  

This is the time of year for gratitude. When our attention is drawn toward the bounty of blessings we enjoy, there is less mental space for disappointment. It is not because we should force a smile when we want to weep. 

It is simply how most of our lives play out. We get some of the gifts we aspire to, and others roll right past us. 

"Very different is the case with those who trust in the Divine. These, notwithstanding they have care for the morrow, still have it not, because they do not think of the morrow with solicitude, still less with anxiety. Unruffled is their spirit whether they obtain the objects of their desire, or not; and they do not grieve over the loss of them, being content with their lot. If they become rich, they do not set their hearts on riches; if they are raised to honors, they do not regard themselves as more worthy than others; if they become poor, they are not made sad; if their circumstances are mean, they are not dejected. They know that for those who trust in the Divine all things advance toward a happy state to eternity, and that whatever befalls them in time is still conducive thereto." 

Emanuel Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven 8478