Having gratitude

[MichaelWinicki]

We're in the middle of a pandemic...

The country is more divided than we've seen in a long time...

The Cowboys are a "dumpster fire"...

How do you approach the topic of having gratitude on a day to day basis?

 

[MichaelWinicki]

When I mean having gratitude, I don't mean in a passive way, but giving it emotional involvement. It's easy to mouth the words "I'm grateful for XYZ" but it's a different matter to stop and take the time to feel it.

I've had issues with this.

Not taking the time to appreciate what I do have as opposed to ruing what do not.

Not taking the time to step back after just reaching a level and accepting that I've done a good job without thinking about other steps that need to be taken.

 

[Runwildboys]

Might I suggest looking at the people who disgust you, and being grateful that you're not like them?

 

[yimyammer]

We're in the middle of a pandemic...

The country is more divided than we've seen in a long time...

The Cowboys are a "dumpster fire"...

How do you approach the topic of having gratitude on a day to day basis?

IMHO, life's never been easier if you live in the US (& many other parts of the world).

In all likelihood, you're reasonably healthy, have a roof over your head, a device that fits in your pocket that allows you to speak to almost anyone in the world, play movies, read books & has access to most of the knowledge on the planet plus there's a good chance you're overweight. I could go on and on...

Obviously being overweight can be detrimental to your health but it shows how far we've come in that food is not only abundantly available and tasty, its so easy to obtain, hunger is a virtual afterthought for most and the bigger concern is how we can stop shoving food down our gobhole.

I heard a comedian express this in a funny way:

"you know you live in a rich country when even the poor people are fat"

Despite everything you've mentioned, I don't believe there's ever been a better time to be alive.

It's about perspective and if more folks traveled the world and experienced how folks live outside the US, the negativity could turn into gratitude.

Is the glass half full or half empty?

The choice is yours

 

[CouchCoach]

First off, nothing as trivial as the Cowboys or any other team will be allowed to rob me of making the best out of life I can.

The big picture right now will most definitely depress most people so I have reduced the big picture down to hundreds of smaller pictures that I use as mood alteration if I am getting into a funk.

I have found myself really enjoying a specific food, beverage, cigar, conversation, piece of music, movie, etc and I do not take any of that for granted as I might have easily done before. The absence of taking for granted is gratitude. I find more pleasure in the little things than I have in my entire life.

But we must seek it because it doesn't just come to us. And it is very good at hiding.

The other night I was having a 3 hour conversation with my bud Mike who lost his wife two years ago and I found myself pausing in that moment to live in that moment. He had a heart attack 7 years ago and if he hadn't already been at the doc's office, he would have been gone. I was more than concerned that he might take his own life after losing his wife as I was there after losing mine and in fact had planned on ending mine. When you've been at that point, gratitude comes easy. If I had carried through with my plan, I wouldn't have been there to help him through it.

No matter how bad it gets, it could be worse. And we have the power to make it better or worse for ourselves. It often isn't as bad as it seems but we can sure make it seem so.

Michael, being aware that you need and want more gratitude in your life is the first step for awareness is the first step of any journey.

 

[Runwildboys]

First off, nothing as trivial as the Cowboys or any other team will be allowed to rob me of making the best out of life I can.

The big picture right now will most definitely depress most people so I have reduced the big picture down to hundreds of smaller pictures that I use as mood alteration if I am getting into a funk.

I have found myself really enjoying a specific food, beverage, cigar, conversation, piece of music, movie, etc and I do not take any of that for granted as I might have easily done before. The absence of taking for granted is gratitude. I find more pleasure in the little things than I have in my entire life.

But we must seek it because it doesn't just come to us. And it is very good at hiding.

The other night I was having a 3 hour conversation with my bud Mike who lost his wife two years ago and I found myself pausing in that moment to live in that moment. He had a heart attack 7 years ago and if he hadn't already been at the doc's office, he would have been gone. I was more than concerned that he might take his own life after losing his wife as I was there after losing mine and in fact had planned on ending mine. When you've been at that point, gratitude comes easy. If I had carried through with my plan, I wouldn't have been there to help him through it.

No matter how bad it gets, it could be worse. And we have the power to make it better or worse for ourselves. It often isn't as bad as it seems but we can sure make it seem so.

Michael, being aware that you need and want more gratitude in your life is the first step for awareness is the first step of any journey.

Aww man, that's what I was gonna say!

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

We're in the middle of a pandemic...

The country is more divided than we've seen in a long time...

The Cowboys are a "dumpster fire"...

How do you approach the topic of having gratitude on a day to day basis?

Every breath is a gift given not taken for granted.

 

[Ren]

I am greatful that me and my family has been able to get thought this without much hardship. We own homes in Texas and Mexico that’s payed for and our business was only shut down for 2 months so we haven’t felt impact of 2020 like do mani my others

 

[Reverend Conehead]

We're in the middle of a pandemic...

The country is more divided than we've seen in a long time...

The Cowboys are a "dumpster fire"...

How do you approach the topic of having gratitude on a day to day basis?

I make sure to stay in touch with the people whom I care about and appreciate that they're in my life now. I know that there's no guarantee that they will continue to be. I'm grateful for the nice things in my life. For example, I own a 2014 Honda Civic, which is a very nice car. I think I'm richer for owning and being grateful to own that car then someone who drives a BMW that he takes for granted while he longs for something fancier like a Jaguar. If you are always longing for some kind of upgrade, you don't appreciate what you've got, and if you did get what you want, you would just upgrade the list of things to get. I have a nice Takamine acoustic-electric guitar that was made in China. It's a sweet guitar that I've enjoyed making music with. Takamine has fancier guitars that they make in Japan, and I wouldn't mind owning one at some point. But I choose to appreciate the one I have right now and enjoy doing good things with it. If I ever do upgrade to a nicer model, then I'll appreciate that one at the time and not waste energy worrying that someone out there probably has an even nicer one.

 

[morasp]

Train yourself to focus on the good.

 

[Stash]

When I mean having gratitude, I don't mean in a passive way, but giving it emotional involvement. It's easy to mouth the words "I'm grateful for XYZ" but it's a different matter to stop and take the time to feel it.

I've had issues with this.

Not taking the time to appreciate what I do have as opposed to ruing what do not.

Not taking the time to step back after just reaching a level and accepting that I've done a good job without thinking about other steps that need to be taken.

I know that we're not supposed to mention religion here, and I don't want to break any rules, by my honest answer is my Faith.

When I go to church on Sunday, I am reminded of all of the wonderful gifts that I have. My faith, my family, my friends, and all of the love that comes with them. My good health as well. Those are all things I have to be very thankful for, and as a flawed failing human being, it is sadly in my nature to forget them from time to time, to take them and all of my other blessings for granted. Mass gives me the reminders that I personally need. It brings those gifts back into focus for me, and I need that. I realized that left to my own selfish devices, I didn't truly appreciate how many good things I have in life, but as you said, I lamented the few things that I didn't.

I think that there are forces in this world that contribute to screwing up our values. A system that inherently tries to tell us that it's not about who you are, but what you have that gives you value. So that system can continue to sell you things, and condition you to think that your next purchase is what will 'make you happy'. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I would encourage anyone that might be struggling with this issue to simply take the time to take an honest life assessment. Take a pen and paper and start a list, with a good things and bad things column. Start adding up the good and I guarantee that they will so far exceed the bad that you will run out of paper - on one side anyway. If we sit down and take stock of how many things we are truly blessed with in this life, we will ultimately feel much better, about ourselves, about other people, and about the world around us.