The moment my three children were laid on my chest after being born. When the surgeon came out of the operating room and said, “Your mom is going to be fine.” The big hug my Irish grandma gave me as I ran into her arms after travelling across the ocean to see her. Standing at the podium as MC at my high school graduation. Opening the box that contained the first copy of my published book.
These are some of the countless things I’m grateful for.
Sometimes in life we get lost in the chaos. We believe the story that creeps into our head saying things are not good. Everyone around us is carrying baggage that we know nothing about as well. As neuroscientist and author Sam Harris said, “We’re surrounded by a carnival of human frailty.” We are all dealing with self-doubt. Wondering if we are enough.
But we’re here. We’re breathing. We’re ordering lattes and scrolling Facebook and that is a life that at least a billion others around the world would love to have.
We can’t be angry and grateful. We can’t be scared and grateful. Being grateful changes everything.
I heard a story about someone being asked to pretend they were Jimmy Stewart in It’s A Wonderful Life. To picture all the things they have never having happened at all. They didn’t meet that person or start that family. They didn’t have those parents or achieve those goals. If we close our eyes and imagine that scenario for ourselves, we quickly realize that we have all we need. We have everything.
What are you grateful for? And how does thinking about those things change the way your day is going?