Gratitude

At work today, someone mentioned that he shared a Thanksgiving toast with his family last week. He went on to say that he wanted them to know that he was fortunate to have their love and trust and how it meant a lot for him to share the holiday with them. What am I grateful for? That's far too open-ended a question for me to answer, but I did reflect on why I am, in general, a grateful person. 


When I wake up each morning, I take a second to be grateful that I have a chance to live another day. When I see a beautiful sunset, I am grateful that I have the eyes to witness such an amazing view, the heart to appreciate it and even more grateful to nature for creating something for me to enjoy. I don't consciously do this, but I realize I am fortunate to be able to feel gratitude. I used to take things for granted and would focus more on the stress and anxiety and other negative things in my life rather than counting my blessings. I knew I wasn't really going to achieve happiness if I continued having this kind of mentality. I challenged myself with this one goal: to daily write down something I was grateful for. I have to admit that I didn't take it seriously at first, but then I began to see the benefits. I was finding that I had more than one blessing I wanted to share each day and that I was grateful for so much in my life. 


I read an article in the Wall Street Journal last week regarding gratitude; it's actually pretty good and you can read the full article here (thank you, Wall Street Journal, for your enlightening articles):


"Adults who frequently feel grateful have more energy, more optimism, more social connections and more happiness than those who do not, according to studies conducted over the past decade. "


It's so true. You can never be too grateful! I am grateful I have a functioning brain even if it makes me think too much and definitely drives me crazy.