Picture this:
It’s Thanksgiving, and you are seated among family and/or friends. Besides the traditional turkey and stuffing, one tradition that you might take part in is going around the table at dinner and sharing what you are grateful for. The most common things people are grateful for are family, friends, good health, work, and security. These are very broad topics and can cover many different things.
But is Thanksgiving the only time to be grateful and to express your thanks? The answer is no, not at all. Other times we might be grateful include after we get a good grade, after a job promotion, or after making new friends. While these are all great things to be grateful for, gratefulness extends much farther than when we accomplish something big. There is so much to be grateful for in every single day. So many things, in fact, that we do not even notice them all.
I believe people have this idea that being grateful only really extends to major life events or relationships. I know that we, in this day and age, take much for granted. Recently, I have decided to challenge this view and take some time each day to reflect upon what I am grateful for. I actually took an old unused journal of mine and designated it to be the place where I gather all of my grateful thoughts. Each evening, I sit down before I go to bed and write down 10 things that I was grateful for that day. At first they were things like “I’m grateful for my family” and “I’m grateful to have an education,” but as I reflected more and more, I started to realize that I was grateful for much more. I started writing things like “I’m grateful for a father who loves spending time with his daughters” and “I’m grateful for my own opinion.” I even once wrote, “I am grateful for pine-scented candles.”
I believe that when you take the time to truly reflect on the things you are grateful for each day, you begin to appreciate what you have more and more. You begin to become content with what you have and where you are. This does not mean that you no longer feel the need to improve, but you no longer feel massive amounts of discomfort that you are not moving fast enough in life, relationships, and/or your career.
When you begin to be grateful, you notice how much good is in the world and how it can be such a positive place. You start to notice others' kindness and strive to become more kind yourself. You begin to feel the tight grip of worry loosen its hold around your life. You start to grow.
Being grateful for what you have in life does not only have to happen once a year. I believe that we should express gratefulness every day. On some days, it can be difficult to think of something to be grateful for, but I promise you, there is something. Take some time every day, whether through mediation or journal, and reflect upon what you're grateful for. There will be more than you think.
