Thankful Thursday

Making notes in my gratitude journal today, my mind fell on of how strange life is. We go through our days compelled to living in gratitude, yet so many people spend their lives doing the exact opposite. They spend so much time seeking sympathy and complaining about what they don’t have, rather than what they do have. In no means have I perfected the art of gratitude, I’m still a pupil. Somedays I’m at a cross road and find it easier to fall back on the road of self-pity than to move forward into happiness.

As easy as it is to start each day by thinking of all the things you have to be thankful for, it’s more difficult than most people think. The difficulty comes not in the inability to see what we have, but rather our inability to appreciate those things. Appreciation is one of the first steps in training the mind and spirit in the ways of gratitude . If you can remember that your future depends largely on the thoughts you think in the moment; appreciation for that moment will begin to flood your consciousness. So that each moment of every day gives an opportunity to turn your thinking around, thereby helping you to think and feel more positively in the very moment, day after day, after day! Thus leading up to a life of awareness, appreciation, and gratitude.

 

Like life, there are no shortcuts to happiness.; and it’s impossible to experience joy 24 hours a day, but  a happy person can have bad days and still find appreciation for the simplest things.

 

Appreciate what you have. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, remember the 1,000 reasons you have to smile. Accept your past without regret; prepare for the future without fear; focus on what’s good right now, in the present moment, and practice gratitude. Always say “thank you!” To yourself, God, and others.

Remember Awareness, Appreciation, Gratitude. It’s my formula for happiness, and being happy doesn’t mean your life is perfect, it simply means you’ve learned to appreciate what you already have.

©Etta D. Richards

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