Originally written 4/10/2022
I have found myself thinking a lot lately about gratitude and positivity. I believe that God created me for a purpose and gifted me with skills and abilities to equip me for that purpose. I believe that, by God’s grace and mercy, I am gifted with so much more than I deserve. I believe that I can speak life into others, be a light in dark places, and spread more positivity than grumpiness. Unfortunately, belief doesn’t translate to practicing gratitude or positive focus as much or as quickly as it should sometimes. I get bogged down by circumstances, stuck in my feelings, or too busy looking at others around me, and then I fail to see all that I have and all the good that is around me.
I think it is a normal, human condition to skip gratitude at times, and instead look at what we lack. I certainly don’t expect to be continuously happy when things are crappy. However, even in the crappiest of circumstances, I want to be someone who strives to be grateful. It isn’t about pretending that difficult things don’t exist or spreading fake sunshine. It is more about getting out of my own way and seeing that I have a choice in how I process and handle things. I can choose to see a moment of difficulty as a moment, or I can choose to let it impact my entire day. I can choose to be stuck in my grumpiness, exhaustion, or defeat, or I can choose to take a deep breath and do what I need to do to rest and heal and allow those feelings to pass. I can choose to see others around me as competition or I can choose to celebrate the highs and support the lows of others whenever I can.
I ultimately think it comes down to looking to myself less and to others more. Self-awareness is important, but too much self-focus doesn’t put me where I want to be. To effectively speak life, be a light and spread positivity, I must focus on the good and the things that I am grateful for—otherwise I won’t have the positive focus to pass to others. I am certainly not always where I want to be on this. Last week at work, I spoke negativity out of raw feeling that wasn’t beneficial for anyone to hear. I likely made a very different first impression on a few co-workers than I intended. Thankfully I was able to regroup, and my coworkers were gracious. I am I work in progress.
To the other works in progress on the gratitude and positivity front, I see you. It is tough to keep a positive focus amid so much negativity and so many difficult circumstances. It is a journey that takes making one positive choice and then another, owning your mistakes, and offering yourself grace. You’ve got this!!
Thanks for reading 😊 EW