Live Your "Happily Ever After"
It is after a lot of analysis and understanding that I now truly believe in this. In the world that we live in, it is super easy to get carried away in the sea of negativity and complaints but how does it feel after? Not so nice, right? Gratitude is one of the most important and powerful concepts that should be taught to us humans from an early age. It should be given as much attention as chasing dreams and fulfilling goals are given.
Not to sound airy-fairy but when was the last time you took a moment to appreciate things or people in your life? From the big things like living in the house you always dreamed of, the relationship that you always wanted, meeting those career and financial goals.. to the smallest of things like having food/water on your table, a roof over your head and clothes to cover you? Not everyone in the world is fortunate enough to have these…. Everything becomes so obvious to us humans after a point that we take such important things for granted until we are on the brink of losing them. (A very small example would be realising the value of a clear throat and an unblocked nose when you catch a horrible cold!) On top of that we start cribbing about the things we DON’T have. IMHO, no one can ever be happy without a conscious acknowledgement no matter how much he/she achieves in life.
Image Source
Yes, we are only humans and feeling negative emotions is only natural but what if it becomes our way of life?
One of the things that plays a major part in this is realising what kind of people we surround ourselves with. I cannot stress more upon this as I write but I would rather be by myself than spend time with those who are busy pointing out the grim situations of life everyday. It might not seem like a big deal at once but if you start observing it’s effects on a long run you would be left wide eyed too.
That said, I am fortunate enough to have a few good friends and people in my family who I can count on in rainy days and not feel worse about a situation. Having people who themselves have a positive outlook on life works as rocket boosters that help you elevate when you yourself feel bogged down. Although there are times when I sometimes feel a lot of energy being poured into the “everything that is wrong with life” cup and to be honest, it starts messing with my brain. Not long ago, I felt I was slowly being sucked into the same and after that it was months before I felt better about my life. I didn’t even know when worry and doubt took over and I started walking on the hard road which didn’t feel natural at all. Slowly, it dawned on me that the only way of living each day with peace is gratefulness and a healthy respect for your mindfulness.
I mean think about it, would you spend your days feeling shitty and dwarfed by fear or wake up everyday feeling content for the things you have and excited for the future possibilities?
One cannot be in a state of fear and gratitude at the same time and is a choice to be made. A state of gratitude is a must for your own mental health and yes it takes time and patience. As it is said, practice makes a man perfect, the same can be applied here too. Gratefulness is a way of living life which gives us enough mental strength of having a solution-oriented perspective when we are in a tough spot. It empowers us to help people around us without getting caught in their cobwebs. This is THE shift in attitude mentioned at the very beginning. What are your thoughts on this?
Keep Creating
Lots Of Love <3
To listen to the audio version of this article click on the play image.
Brought to you by @tts. If you find it useful please consider upvoting this reply.
Gratitude sure is important to lead a happy life, but you can't simply expect it from someone who's already dealing with some serious problems in their life.
For a great example, you can't expect someone dealing with depression to be grateful that at least they are alive because life for them isn't worth living for anymore.
Another example can be to expect a kid who is being bullied and harassed at school to be grateful that he at least gets to go to school while millions of kids around the globe don't.
I think the more logical way to experience and practice gratitude, is AFTER you have fulfilled a very basic level of human needs. Let me make myself clear here. Desiring for more things and dealing with problems that already exist, are two very separate things, and you can't be fully grateful in your life if you are not happy with your life in the first place.
Also, I think in a way, we as an "inspiration-heavy" generation seem to over-saturate the definition of gratitude. My friend @apolymask and I once had a conversation about this and we agreed that it's possible (and even healthy) to be grateful, yet also desire for more in life but mindfully.
It's to keep a balance between accepting life the way it is, and still longing for a better one but in a restful and easy manner.
You got a 43.78% upvote from @ocdb courtesy of @aishwarya! :)
@ocdb is a non-profit bidbot for whitelisted Steemians, current max bid is 30 SBD and the equivalent amount in STEEM.
Check our website https://thegoodwhales.io/ for the whitelist, queue and delegation info. Join our Discord channel for more information.
If you like what @ocd does, consider voting for ocd-witness through SteemConnect or on the Steemit Witnesses page. :)