A Time of Being Grateful

In a world filled with a million things that are meant to make you want more, it has become increasingly difficult to be thankful for what you have and see right in front of your face. Instead, we just want more and more and are really never satisfied. We scroll through social media and see perfect people with perfect families wearing perfect clothes doing perfect things…and we feel discontent with what WE have. We want what THEY have.

This gratitude thing…it doesn’t come easily. Not one bit. It is actually a very difficult thing to practice. Our minds are hard-wired to remember negative stimuli, as they are clinically shown to have more impact on our brains. This is why we don’t naturally recall the good things in our days, while we easily remember the hardships and aggravations. It is an adapted response from our beginning where a negative item could lead to serious harm or death. Remembering negative things helped keep you alive. As we have evolved as human beings, we kept this instinctive reaction to negativity. 

WHAT IF I told you that we all have the ability to Control + ALT + Delete and do a reboot of our brains?

All you have to do is practice daily gratitude. Doing this will result in a profound and radical change in your life.

When I say, “daily practice” – that is exactly what it is. You have to consciously look for things to be grateful for. You have to be specific and deliberate about actually seeing the reasons to be thankful that are right in front of your face.

For example, I am writing this at 2am. I actually woke up at midnight and could not go back to sleep no matter what I did…so I came out into the living room to write and think. Oh, and I also have a 5am flight to catch.

My mind could go very negative here because of the long day I have ahead of me…

BUT, when I focus on the present moment that I am in and REALLY look around me, I cannot help but smile.

To my left is my Bella who is snuggled next to me. She is sound asleep and I can see her precious chest move up and down as she breathes so quietly.

June also came out and is snuggled in her doggy blanket. She is gently snoring and I can tell that she is having some sort of doggy dream.

I am covered by a comfy blanket in a beautiful warm home. It is peaceful and quiet and quite lovely, actually. I find myself being able to clearly think for the first time in weeks. I am very grateful for the time that I have right now and am savoring these last moments I have with the doggies before we head to Sedona.

There are a lot of positives here at a time where it is very easy to have gone the other way. Because I have consciously chosen to look at the things I am grateful for, my disposition is well, quite splendid, actually.

God loves it when we are grateful and when we finally “figure it out.” He takes great delight in us when we open up our hearts and eyes to see all of His marvelous miracles that have been right in front of our faces the whole time. Typically, we don’t “see” them because we are so focused on other – much less important – things. When the veil gets lifted from our eyes and we re-wire our brains to seek out what is good, everything changes. Exceedingly so.

So, here’s to developing an attitude of gratitude in a world that bombards you with negativity. The devil wants you to focus on the bad things that you see, hear and experience. Don’t let that a-hole win.

God wants us to be grateful for his blessings, always. This practice will bring you great peace and cultivate your relationship with Him. Your joy will increase, your overall contentment will rise and your serenity will be highly contagious.

What are YOU grateful for?

Check out my Podcast on Amazon, Apple, and Soundcloud – Jen’s 10 G’s