If you’re feeling serious pain in your life at this moment…depression, anger, fear, anxiety…the power to initiate change is in your hands, and it’s not nearly as difficult as you might think. How do you start? By checking your gratitude! That’s right: gratitude. A seemingly innocuous, oft overlooked state of being that is completely within our control.
If you’re depressed because your life “sucks”, your gratitude is low. Way low.
If you’re angry because some person seems to be out to get you, your gratitude is low. (Paranoia, by the way, may be a sign of depression.)
If you’re afraid that whatever you have – whether much or little – is going to be taken away…well, you get the idea.
I know from firsthand experience that it’s not possible to have a healthy state of wellbeing without being grateful. It is a critical ingredient; in fact, I’d dare say it is the stepping stone to peace.
At one point in my life, I kept a gratitude journal. At the end of each day, I’d list five things for which I was grateful. Five seems like a small number, but truthfully, some days it was hard to come up with five things. Some days, they were silly things ("mint tea", "the HOV lane") because that's all I could come up with. Regardless, the point is that I intentionally focused my mind on being thankful. Over time, it began to get easier. I started to see blessings all around that I had previously not noticed. Now, I have started to become grateful for almost all things, even the bad things. I know that sounds hard to believe! While gratitude may not be my initial reaction, is does come eventually if I (again) intentionally focus on finding the good in a situation. For example, I have come to see my years of job dissatisfaction as a blessing because it has forced me to think long and hard about what I really want to do. Now, I am starting up a small side business, about which I feel very passionate. I've also developed other paths to fulfillment, such as service and (you knew this was coming) writing this blog, to name only two.
Another trick towards developing gratitude is to take a few minutes to think of all the things for which you are grateful, and I do mean everything. You can do this in while you're in the car, in the shower, getting ready for sleep. (Focusing on your blessings is an excellent way to end your day, by the way!) Here is my short list:
- my family
- my friends
- my relationship with Chris
- a warm house
- food to eat
- a car that runs
- a fairly stable job
- good health
- my doggies
- living in a free country
- being able to start anew each day
- freedom to worship as I choose
- being able to pay my bills
- the ability to see, touch, taste, feel, think for myself
I could go on and on, but I won't. There are just so many things for which I am grateful! It's nearly endless. I bet you will find the same, if you simply but very intentionally turn your focus on counting your blessings.
Being grateful doesn't mean being blind to problems and obstacles that come along, but it does keep your focus on what's right with life, instead of what's wrong. That is the starting point on the path to peace. And that path, friends, is available to us all.
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