Day 205 Y25 Thought of the Day_Gratitude

I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.

Anne Frank

It is easy to be grateful when things are going well in our lives. But when we are hurting, struggling, and feeling lost, it is much harder to do so.

Cliche as it may sound, but we always have the power to shift our mindset towards something positive instead of focusing on the negative.

We can start by simply looking for one good thing out of the situation, no matter how small it may be.

More than once, this helped me in both practical and profound ways. This practice of gratitude is what also gave me the push that I needed to revive this blog and write more consistently.

When I was going through a very tough time last year, I felt stuck and unable to get myself out of the rut no matter how hard I tried. There were good days, but they were fleeting.

I’ve always journaled privately to help me clear my head when I can’t sleep. But even that became harder as I found my musings were all about the same things – the fears, the heaviness, and the helplessness that I was feeling.

Then I found this Gratitude app that you can download on your phone. It prompts you to write down at least three good things about your day. It converts those entries into affirmations that you repeat back to yourself. It also tracks your milestones when you never skip a day.

At first, it was hard to keep up with three good things in a day to write about. By the end of the week, I felt like I was grateful for all the same things, I can’t think of anything new to add.

Later on, I realized that it’s okay! Even when all we could be thankful for is the air we breathe, waking up to another day healthy and sound, having food on our table, and being in the safety of our homes, that is already a lot.

Over time, it became easier to find the good things beyond just three. It’s like when you are looking for something specific, like a red car – suddenly, all you see are red cars everywhere!

That app had helped me immensely. The mental exercise I got accustomed to while using the app gave me the idea of writing my ‘gratitude’ entries in this blog so that others who are going through the same struggles may also benefit from a little dose of positivity.

We are truly blessed, even when we don’t always see it. We have a God who is always there and cares for us regardless of what’s happening around us. Acknowledging that is the best way of practicing gratitude, and that faith will sustain us so we can keep moving forward.