One of the best things you can do for yourself and the world around you at any given moment is to practice gratitude. Sometimes you’ll naturally feel grateful and sometimes you won’t, and it’s in those times that you don’t naturally feel grateful that it’s important to practice gratitude, because there’s always something to be grateful for. Don’t complain. Have something good to say.
It’s natural in life to want things and to strive for them. We don’t run around chasing the things we have because we already have them. We only run around chasing the things that we don’t have. This brings a natural focus on the things that we don’t have and are trying to obtain or achieve. This is valuable because no one ever reached the stars with their hands in their pockets. But this is dangerous because if all you ever do is reach for things, then you quickly forget all about what’s right there in your pockets. The grass will always be greener somewhere else. But don’t let that stop you or distract you from appreciating how green the grass is in your own front yard. There will always be something to complain about—and there will always something to be grateful for. So why not focus on the positive? Spend the first few moments of your day and the last few moments of your day thinking about everything you have, everything that’s going right, and it will never fail to bring a smile to your face. The only rule is that you don’t let anything else into that thought. Just focus on what you have, here and now. It’s a lot. It’s more than some people and it’s less than others but it’s a lot. You just have to look at it the right way.
Reframing things is a good way to remain grateful and not complain. I thought I was very good at this but your mother is the best I’ve ever seen at it. If a friend says, “Thanks for dinner,” she says, “Thanks for coming over.” When she gets overcharged for something, she says, “Good thing I caught it!” If she slipped and fell and broke her leg, she’d say, “At least it wasn’t my head!” When you pooed on my backpack, she said, “At least it wasn’t one of those really messy poos.” That’s right, you pooed on my backpack and your mother had something good to say about it. Glad I married that woman! Wherever you are, there’s some place nearby that’s worse and you aren’t there, so you can always be grateful for that.
Don’t get me wrong—I encourage you to reach for the stars. Just remember to regularly appreciate what you’ve already got in your pockets.
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