“An attitude of gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” Melody Beattie

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” Oprah Winfrey

Hello

How are you doing? I’m not asking for the sake of asking. I really want to know. I hope you have been staying sane. There’s a whole lot of information to take in and most of this information is not even positive. It is painful to read people’s stories and much more painful for people who have been victims of rape or sexual assault. My advice, for your sanity sake, is that please take a break. While it is okay to join the movement to speak against rape, killings, and racism, if all the information you are exposed to is affecting your mental health, please stay away from them. But don’t stop lending your voice to the movement.

I just hope these things come to an end very soon and justice is served.

This week I decided to speak on gratitude. If you have not read the blog post that went up on Monday, you should not be reading this then. Click here to read it before coming back to read this one. I talked about why gratitude is important and one of the questions that popped up was, now that we know that gratitude is important, how can we develop an attitude of gratitude on bad days or hard times.

If I say it is easy, I’ll probably be deceiving you. I feel even though good things are happening to people, more people have a story of nothing even happening for them or bad things happening to them. We hurt so much and yea it’s okay to feel the pain that comes with these things. But it is also important that you remember the other part of your life that is without pain, no matter how little it seems.

How can you have an attitude of gratitude amidst the pain

An attitude of gratitude means making it a habit to express thankfulness and appreciation in all parts of your life on a regular basis for both the big and small things alike.

1. Let go of your past

The art of being grateful on really hard days starts with you. You have to be willing to let go of the mistakes that you have held on to. Stop believing that things are not working out because of the mistakes you have made. Well, maybe if you had done some things differently, things could have taken a different turn but still, don’t beat yourself too hard about it. If you hold on tightly to pains from the past, it’ll only deprive you of the happiness that you deserve.

2. Forgive yourself

After deciding to let go, you need to forgive yourself. Enough of the ‘na me kuku fuck up’. When it becomes easy for you to forgive yourself, it becomes easy for you to forgive others.

3. Be thankful for the seemingly little things

As you already know, comparison is the thief of joy. Rather than wish you have what others have, why not be thankful for what you have. Thing is, that thing that you have is what someone else is wishing for. If you concentrate on what you have, you’ll always have more. Celebrate your little wins, gas yourself up, and tell yourself positive words. When you are thankful for those little things, it is easy for you to see opportunities and also appreciate progress while moving on in life.

When you wake up every day, think about what you are grateful for and say it loud. Make it a habit to always acknowledge other people and thank them for things that they do for you. Every time you find yourself dwelling on pain or negativity, ask yourself this question, what am I grateful for. Always focus on positive things and watch your life take a turn for good.

Do you know any other way a person can develop an attitude of gratitude? Please share in the comment section for everyone to learn. If you find this blog post inspiring, please scroll down to the love icon and double tap to like this post. Also, share it with your friends.

With love,

Opeyemi Omidiji

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