Many times people ask me how can I be grateful when there are things I have struggled with and problems within my family. The easiest and best answer I can give them is that I am grateful because I am. Being grateful is a choice. I choose to be grateful every day.
When we choose to focus only on the bad things that are happening around us we can get depressed very quickly. We start to continually complain and are not a joy to be around. Eventually people stop hanging around, because honestly, nobody likes someone who is down all the time.
Yes, things go wrong. Yes, people may say mean and hateful things to you at times. Yes life can be very hard. At the end of the day what matters is how you approach things. I am always grateful and focus on what I have rather than what I do not. After all, what I don’t have I can work towards obtaining if it is something I really want or need. I can learn a new job, I can go to school and learn something new. All changes in my life are up to me and me alone so if I’m miserable about my circumstance the only one I have to blame is myself. I do not live this way, I choose to be grateful instead.
If you are having trouble finding something to be grateful for consider this, you woke up today – some did not. You are reading this so you have your sight – some do not. Start there with those simple things and if all you did was manage to make it through the day without giving up then be grateful for that.
Once you start looking at your life you will realize there are things to be grateful for, you just have to chose to be grateful. After all, a grateful mindset is an attitude.