Blessed or Fortunate????

Blessed:Enjoying great happiness, eternal bliss,rewarded or holy.
Fortunate: Good, unforeseen, having good luck, favorable or victorious.
These are two words that have caused me to sit and really think lately. I have watched the news and watched Plant after Plant close down. I have read and heard of the thousands on thousands of people that are losing their jobs. It is a frightening time and especially for those directly touched by the economic situation world-wide. I sat back and looked at myself. Being Bipolar, too often even when life is great, I am down or saddened.I listen to the World issues and hear the word "fortunate" brought up. People fortunate to have jobs or money put aside for these "rainy" days. I thought to myself, am I blessed or am I simply fortunate? Strange question, I am sure to some but to me a very real question.
I looked up both words and though I found similarities, I also noticed a few differences. Fortunate seemed to have more to do with "luck." Luck being "the chance happening of fortunate" and "One's personal fate or lot." Blessed had more to do with something given to one rather than simply by chance. I thought about my up-coming vacation and the fact that I am able to go and enjoy. The very fact that I have the income to take a vacation while others strive simply to feed their family seems to bother me. And yet at the same time, I feel extremely blessed. I know in my heart of hearts that I have been blessed more than any one man ever deserved to be... especially THIS man.
I didn't grow up in a family of love by chance. I didn't have the opportunity to reach out and help my blind brother nor the friends that I hung with. I chose to do so and was rewarded for doing so in more ways than I can convey here. It wasn't fortune that a beautiful lady, filled with love for me came into my life. Being fortunate did not have anything to do with being a published author. All of these things came to me because I was blessed. Someone bigger than me saw fit to reach down and touch my life in a beautiful way. The things I had experienced in my life, good and bad, have taught me the things I need to survive in a world that cares more for the income of money than the in-flow of love into their lives.
I think that we need to sit down sometimes, look hard at what we have and where we are in our lives. We need to realize that blessings need to be acknowledged and praise given to the one that brings to us the blessings of our lives. There are many things in this world that seem to seek us out and try to take from us the bliss that comes with blessings. It is up to us to embrace what we DO have and be thankful.
My heart goes out to those that are suffering because of jobs being taken from them. But I think that through what happens in our lives, it may be an opportunity for those we love and love us to bless their family and in turn be blessed themselves. Reaching out to loved ones that have fallen prey to the economy is a perfect opportunity to give of ourselves and to touch the lives of those we love. Will we let them seek out being fortunate, leaving it to "chance" what happens to our family... or will we reach out and bless them? Giving of our selves and helping them to see blessings also. I think that when a door closes, another does not always open. But... it does appear and we do have the choice to open it or leave it closed. I hope that we are a people that Will open that door and allow the blessings to flow.
Fortunate or Blessed. I want my life to be blessed. I don't want it left to chance whether i survive in this sometimes very cold, very frightening world. Sometimes, issues such as this cause me to simply sit down and think. And I take the time to say "thank you" to the one that has indeed blessed me so in this life.
Why I write what I write sometimes, I am not always sure. A feeling that compels me to do so. I hope you do not mind the ramblings of a man that knows he has been blessed. Always, Darrel