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I am sure, all of you would have heard the song “Count Your Blessings”, but have you ever pondered upon the real meaning of this song. Have you ever gone back and actually counted your blessings? If you have not I would never blame you as we are so busy with our daily chores that we never get time to do so.
Even I never used to do so, but something that happened in the lives of two of my friends recently changed my attitude.
A friend of mine had been attending the entrance coaching classes from an institute in Kerala which follows the same system as the PC Thomas Coaching for two years i.e. during her 11^th and 12^th. I myself have seen her working really hard and trying to fit in her coaching hours and studies together. She was determined to pass the entrance examination cause only then could she get into good colleges in Kerala with affordable fees etc like College of Engineering Trivandrum
This year, 2009, she wrote her 12^th CBSE board exam. After her boards, her coaching classes continued with full vigor. A few days before the Kerala Entrance exam, her CBSE board results were announced, she was expecting a pretty good result, but on that day she discovered that she had faired in the 80s for all subjects except Maths in which she got below 50. The unexpected had just happened. Her two years of hard work had drained out as it seems she could no more write her entrance exams as per the prevailing rules. Just imagine, what an irony!!!
The other experience is relating to one of my most favorite teachers of my school. She was one of the most talented, understanding and best teachers I have ever had. She had even won the Sh Hamdan award for the Best Teacher and is often also nicknamed as “Children’s pet”. Many of her students had passed examinations with flying because of her training, but luck was not with her in the case of her own daughter. Her daughter was a very talented and smart student and did very well in her studies as well but when the 12^th std results were announced, the girl had failed and had to repeat the whole year. When I heard the news I was shocked and sad. If this news brought tears to my eyes, I thought of the pain through which my teacher would be experiencing. The next day at school, I was pretty much embarrassed to face my teacher and did not know what to say. But she was as cool as a cucumber, I would say. She said, “Maybe God has a different plan for her, a better one.”

These two situations made me realize, nothing is under our control. We must always expect the unexpected and never be shocked if anything out of the ordinary turns up.
I believe that God makes us go through such situations because he knows that only then will we realize the value of the blessings he has given us. So always remember to ponder upon the blessings that He has given us and keep them in mind even when failure strikes you.

Abu Dhabi, 25^th May 2009