With the spirit of Thanksgiving here, I figured I would give a friendly reminder to everyone and myself the importance of showing gratitude not just today but every day. It’s so easy to get distracted in the day by day that we forget to stop and recognize the greatness in each day.
From a lecture I attended while working for Point Guard College (PGC) last summer Micah Hayes said some things about gratitude that opened my eyes to the impact gratitude can have on your life. He said, "where gratitude exists, fear cannot exist...Gratitude eliminates fear, a sense of entitlement and anger.” Mind blowing, right??? Showing gratitude allows us to stay present. If we can express gratitude every day, it’s easier to live in the moment; day by day.
There have been clumps of periods of time where it felt like the world was against me. I couldn’t do anything right. I couldn’t catch a break. I felt like the most unlucky person in the universe. I was insecure. I didn’t trust anyone. You name it, if it was a negative thought, I was probably thinking it. But each time I found myself in a rut there were two main aspects of my life that I was neglecting; 1) being grateful and 2) serving others. Every day when I woke up I forgot to be grateful that I woke up, I forgot to be grateful that I had food on the table, that I had a family that loved me, that I have all my fingers and toes, that I could go to class and get an education, go to practice and whatever else. When we take a step back and see the big picture of life and living, it’s so much larger than a few negative aspects we’re zoned in on. When I chose to be grateful for the little things it subconsciously focused my attention on what is going right and most times when we break it down, there is more positive things happening than negative.
In tough times, be grateful for the opportunity because with every challenge comes opportunity to overcome it. Everyone wants to be happy. You can’t feel happiness until you’ve felt pain. There’s no way to avoid pain; therefore happiness is an action that comes with solving problems thus progressing. There will always be problems so there will always be opportunity to achieve happiness. So, be grateful!
Today, I am most thankful for my support system, my opportunities and the chance to continue to do what I love for a living. what about you?
