Feeling down? Trodden upon? Depressed? Like a failure? No reason to live?
Well, I have something very important to tell you.
My future is about as clear as the murky water in the picture with the nice sun reflection and my very clean sneakers. So basically, I don’t have any idea what my future holds and in many respects you don’t either. You may have “plans” and “goals,” but you don’t know anymore than I do about the future.
So if you are feeling negative, going through a tough time and stuck in the murky water of the present, let me try to help you a bit.
10 Reasons Everyone Can Feel Gratitude
No matter who you are, where you live, what you do everyday or what you believe, there are some basic reasons that everyone can feel gratitude.
By focusing on the positiveness of being grateful, the negative feelings are shoved out of your brain. The more positive you can remain, the happier you will feel. So my list of ten reasons why everyone can feel gratitude can help you get on that upward road to a more positive attitude and ultimately feel happiness each day.
- Feeling grateful for your body: Everyone was born and has a body. No matter what deficiencies your body may have, you still can function enough to be reading this post. So your brain is comprehending, your lungs are breathing and your heart is beating along with thousands of other things that are going on in your body. You have a working body that enables you to go and do all the things you choose to do each day. Your body is your body. No one can steal it from you no matter how hard they try.
- Feeling grateful for oxygen: Planet Earth is covered with a lovely layer of oxygen. This gas allows you to live. You breathe in and out all day and all night. Most of us are able to breathe without thinking about the action. When you breathe oxygen and it fills our lungs, your blood absorbs the oxygen and sends it all over your body. Oxygen keeps your body alive and functioning.
- Feeling grateful for the sunrise, sunset, moon: Without fail and totally beyond anyone’s control, the sun rises, the sun sets and the moon lightens the night sky. It is a guarantee. No matter what anyone says or does, it will happen every twenty four hours. You are free to enjoy these wonderful experiences whenever you choose to do so. You can watch the sun fill the sky with light and wake all the sleeping creatures while it warms the planet all day long. Then you can watch the sun slowly set into the horizon as the sky darkens and the moon becomes visible as it lightens the night sky. The sunrise, sunset and bright moon are all very peaceful. Take the time to breathe in oxygen and enjoy the awesome beauty of the sun and moon.
- Feeling grateful for rain, snow, trees, flowers: Nature is beautiful. There are a billion things going on in nature that you will never see. Plants are following their cycle of life while the weather spreads across the planet giving different experiences throughout the day based on where on the planet you live. So many natural processes are occurring simultaneously across the planet that it is mind-boggling. You don’t have to keep track of it, know about it or understand it because it will keep on happening without you. You are totally free to just enjoy it.
- Feeling grateful for clothes, shoes: Some of you enjoy clothes and shoes more than others, but you have clothes and shoes to protect you from the harsh elements in nature. They help to keep you warm in the winter and protect you in the summer when the sun is scorching hot.
- Feeling grateful for technology: With all the technology available, you are able to do and enjoy things that man has never been so privy to in the past. Information and pictures can be gathered within seconds from all over the world. You can also talk to people anywhere on the planet and see them stream live on your computer, phone or television. Technology has connected man and made the planet feel smaller. By doing so, we have discovered that we are all very much alike in many ways.
- Feeling grateful for laughter, tears: Because you have experienced sadness and tears, you are able to feel happiness when you laugh. It takes the bitter to understand and enjoy the sweet.
- Feeling grateful for family, friends: The people in your life who care and love you make life totally worth living. To give and receive love is the greatest experience in life.
- Feeling grateful for food, water: Thanks to the wonderful life giving elements and force of nature, food is grown and water is plentiful. Not only is there food and water available, but you can enjoy consuming it. The benefits of eating is that your body stays strong and you live!
- Feeling grateful for life: The alternative to living is dying and although everyone will die some day, being alive is beyond words. Right now you are alive. You can choose to do whatever you want to do and it will affect the next minute of your life and sometimes it will affect your entire future. No matter what you choose, it is YOUR life. You will live it one second at a time. You don’t know how many seconds you will live, but everyone of them is yours to use. Life is a wonderful gift.
So there are ten reasons that you can feel gratitude any and every second of the day. When life starts to feel overwhelming and the negatives start to crowd your mind, just STOP!
Be still.
Focus on calmness.
Slow down your breathing.
Breathe deeply.
Think of the reasons you can feel gratitude.
Explore each reason and let peace enter your mind.
Allow the positiveness to take over your negative and fearful thoughts.
You can’t see into the future. I can’t see into the future. We can share this moment together and hope for more to come, but all we have is right now. Enjoy what you have now, make choices that will help future moments be happy and work hard to make those dreams come true. But most importantly, keep the feeling of gratitude alive within your heart, mind and soul.
Where there is positive feelings, negative feelings have to leave. The less negative your feelings, the more happiness you will feel.
We can all feel and express gratitude. Try it. You may actually be surprised how easy it is to change your attitude.
Another inspirational post! You wrote, “I don’t have any idea what my future holds and in many respects you don’t either. You may have ‘plans’ and ‘goals,’ but you don’t know anymore than I do about the future.” Truer words could not have been written. I remember when I was young I used to have beautiful daydreams about what my future held. I had so many wonderful plans and goals. None of which came true. The exception being I gave birth and I do have a wonderful son – and for this I am grateful. However, I have learned, there is no statute of limitation on a dream. So, I continue to dream and stay proactive on achieving my dream, because nobody knows what tomorrow may bring – or for that matter what may happen today. 🙂
Very true! Just keep plugging away and you never know what new opportunities the new day will bring.
Great post! I try to follow the 90/10 rule. If we would just focus on the multiple blessings that are given to us each day instead of the 10% or less that can go wrong, we would all be so much happier! You are awesome Red! Blessings to you!
That’s a great rule Lisa! I need to remember it! 🙂
Awesome as usual! 🙂 I especially like to practice #’s 7,8, and 10 with a very honorable mention to #9! 🙂 Thank you very much for sharing! 🙂 <3 … oh… speaking of #9…. my sweet tooth would like me to express some gratitude to it real soon… 😉
That sweet tooth thing is a daily occurrence with me! LOL Why not? Life is short!!! 😉