Giving Thanks

posted 1st December 2009    Written by: Kendra    CATEGORY: All Posts, Kendra, Quarterlife Crisis, Season 1

thank you beachFellow blogger Robert Brault says that, “There is no such thing as gratitude unexpressed. If it is unexpressed, it is plain, old-fashioned ingratitude,” and I’m inclined to agree. As I’ve already touched upon, in the accounting of our memories we’re often more inclined to remember the bad stuff than the good stuff. The good stuff fades if we let it, while the bad stuff sticks out in horrid contrast, feeding into a descending spiral of gloom, doom and victimhood.

That kind of thinking will kill us if we let it.

So how do we keep ourselves upbeat, connected to our core, and to what I honestly believe is a thread of goodness trying its best to lift us upward towards genuine happiness, in a world that for all of its talk of rules of attraction and positivity, seems intent upon inundating us with an ever growing list of fears and horrors (see: the evening news)?

In other words, how do we during this Thanksgiving Season, and all year long really, stay grateful?

I’ve found a morning prayer of thanks for another day goes a long day towards helping to put me in a thankful state of mind. Before I even open my eyes I say something like thank you for this day, or thank you for this warm bed, or thank you for this quiet moment.

Similarly, closing each day by writing a quick gratitude list does a lot to help me reframe my life so I can remember the wonderful things instead of giving into the Negative Nellie need to obsessively cataloguing every perceived slight, or inconvenience, or hardship that flitted across my mind that day.

It’s a bit after 9:30AM as I write this on a blustery November day and thus far

I’ve found the following things to be grateful for:

·         My mom who has been sick all week felt good enough to go to work today, which not only speaks wonders to her health, but has the added benefit of giving me some extra quiet time I don’t have when the family is around.

·         There is a Dr. Who Marathon on the tele which means there’s a good chance I will spend the day annoying those around me with my deliciously bad British accent.

·         I have a job interview today for a job I want, for an organization that seems great, in a fun part of the city.

·         It’s sunny today which means I can wear my fancy blue coat to my job interview.

·         Oreo, our family kitten has fallen off the window sill at least three times. This is an action I find uproariously funny despite the fact that he does this everyday several times a day. He is now eyeing our hanging ivy like it is his prey.

·         I am in a good mood for no specific reason and feel a bit like my old darkly happy self than I have in ages. It’s like I’m buzzing from the inside.

·         Stratejoy! I look at where I was when I started writing this blog four months ago and where I am now and I am in such an emotionally better place even if the details of my life haven’t changed so much. Writing this blog has been such a good outlet, forcing me to express myself and really think about myself and my problems and come to the very important conclusion that I was creating most of my pain.

·         You guys! The comments on the blog have been awesome and as much as I get cathartic release in talking about this stuff, hearing that other people feel similarly is wonderful. Misery loves company, after all, and so does good cheer! Hear, hear!

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