Finding gratitude. Being thankful. It’s a hard thing to do at times. We get consumed with all the unpleasantness surrounding us. We feel life is “unfair”, as my 7 year old would say. Or get caught up in having ourselves a little pity-party (like me when my husband travels and I’m single parenting while sick). And on and on it goes.
But what if we just stopped. Stopped the thoughts in our heads and the words that come out of our mouths. And instead just take a moment to be thankful. And maybe not just a moment. Maybe we change our focus and start to be more thankful than critical.
My moms group is currently tackling this very concept. It seemed so easy at first. I consider myself a pretty thankful person. I literally go to bed every night and thank God for all the blessings in my life. My two wonderful kids. My amazing husband, who is such a blessing and truly co-parents with me. My friends who are there for me, especially those far away that I miss so deadly. My family. Blah blah blah. You get the idea.
But what about the times when I’m not being thankful. When I’m feeling sorry for myself because I never seem to get a night out because plans keep getting canceled. The days I literally do not talk to another adult and feel so desperately lonely. Or times when life just really sucks. When tragedy hits us when we are least expecting it. Where is my gratitude in those moments.
It’s a challenging task to be truly grateful. Especially when you are an organized person who hates when plans go awry. The one thing I have learned is that sometimes when life throws you a curve ball and nothing seems to be going your way, it might just be an opportunity. An opportunity to do something new. An opportunity to change your way of thinking. An opportunity to just slow down for a moment.
I won’t pretend that I’ve completely given up my self pitying ways and that I live in a world of rainbows and unicorns. But I do try to keep in mind that while you can’t always control what happens to you, you can control how you respond. So try to find a little bit of thankfulness in each moment. I truly hope it brightens your day.
Until I write again…
x Shay
A Page From My Life 