Or what to do when it feels like everything is going wrong.
Earlier this week, I led a workshop on the connection between joy and gratitude, the ways we push our happiness away and how to stop, and how to train our brains to be more grateful. The room was full, energy and engagement were high, and the room was abuzz with possibility.
Still, as I looked around the room, it was clear there were participants in pain. As I thought about some of those I know personally and their circumstances, I wondered if it might be difficult to find things to be grateful for — as it is for all of us, at times.
As I write this, it’s gray, rainy and cold, and it feels as though spring may never come. Between my seasonal affective disorder, some other health challenges and the current state of the world, it’s easy to slip into a bleak outlook.
So how can we keep soldiering on when it seems there’s little to be grateful for?
When things aren’t going well, it’s easy to allow our aperture to narrow and to focus on our own troubles. On a bad day, it can seem as though the only thing to be grateful for is that it’s over — and that’s perfectly valid.
It’s important to give ourselves grace during difficult times. And it can be useful and even powerful to shift our attention to the world outside. Here are just a few ideas of what we can be grateful for, even when it’s hard:
- Even bad days come to an end
- The sun will come up tomorrow (even if it’s obscured by clouds)
- Chef Jose Andres is out there on the front lines of conflict and disaster, serving warm meals to people in need
- Something good that happened to a friend or family member
- Trees starting to bud, the first tiny hints of a tulip coming up, or a flower in bloom
- Someone, somewhere did something kind for a perfect stranger
- A child without resources was awarded a scholarship
- A refugee was given shelter, food, clothing and water
Being grateful for things that don’t benefit us, specifically, has been shown to have more powerful effects than a gratitude practice grounded in what benefits us personally. It expands our perspective and encourages generosity.
There is always something to be grateful for.
(c) 2023 angela rae bushman – all rights reserved
Angela Rae Bushman 