Is gratitude just for the good times in your life? Can you be grateful during your most difficult life moments?
Gratitude is for both the joyful and difficult times. We need gratitude every single day and for every life circumstance. Gratitude is even more powerful when times are difficult. We can truly be grateful for our joyous and our difficult times equally.
Gratitude is so powerful because it connects us to the bigger purpose behind everything that happens to us. We may think we can see the big picture and understand the direction that we are headed in life. In reality, we can only see part of the picture. Only our wise soul knows the big picture. During tough times, gratitude reminds us that there is more beneath the surface than what we are able to see. There is a blessing and opportunity hidden in every circumstance, even if the circumstances are difficult and painful.
Gratitude helps us to shift emotionally from a fearful, angry place to a more hopeful, trustful place. The act of gratitude reminds us to postpone any judgment of the situation and stand back to see what opportunity or blessing is unfolding. It is simply unwise to judge our lives by appearances. Being grateful helps to open our hearts and our minds to seeing what is behind our experiences and circumstances. It helps us to be more curious about how our lives can unfold instead of judging our experiences as good or bad.
As long as we are angry and assume that everything is going wrong, then we are unable to see the true blessing emerging before us. When we face difficulty, it is so easy for us to assume that life is working against us instead of supporting us. In truth, we really may not fully understand all the powerful, unexpected ways that life works for us. Something on the surface can be painful and difficult; but on a deeper level, it will benefit us in ways that we could have never imagined. A painful experience can often put us onto a happier path if we are open to the possibility.
Recently, I experienced a difficult time in my life where my career plans just seemed to unravel over a one year period. At every obstacle, I would regroup and try again before my plans unraveled yet again. After a while, I questioned whether it was time to move onto a new career path since my current path seemed to dying a slow death. I felt so angry, resentful, disappointed, fearful and cynical about myself and my life instead of being grateful. I had closed myself off mentally from finding any value or benefit in my experience.
Then I picked up a book about gratitude, which served as a teacher for me. The writers in that book taught me to be grateful for my life journey thus far and to be grateful even as I faced difficulty and confusion about my future. I was truly grateful for finding that book and its powerful wisdom. I realized that I was grateful for my life and all the journeys that I have traveled thus far. I did not need the disappointment and uncertainty about my future to go away before I could be grateful for my present circumstances. It was truly miraculous to have traveled the paths that I have and learned all that I have those my experiences.
Once I realized how grateful I was, I felt better. I had a calmer sense that I could make it, even if I still felt a little confused about my next steps. I stopped judging my difficulty as a bad experience. I found myself adopting a more neutral opinion of my circumstances. I was more curious about what was below the surface of this difficult period. In other words, I was more interested in witnessing the opportunities of how my life could grow to a higher level from this experience. I am still learning to cultivate an attitude of gratitude for all my life experiences instead of judging everything immediately.
As I have shifted to gratitude, I can see a larger meaning of from my experiences. Sometimes, obstacles along our path challenge us to be more creative in getting what we want. Maybe, I needed to be more creative and think outside the box to get what I wanted in life. We have to learn how to believe in ourselves more and tap into our inner well of hidden, undeveloped talents. Gratitude for my present situation helped me to realize that my situation was not hopeless. I was not a powerless, helpless victim of my circumstances. Gratitude helped me to find more inner strength to transform my situation to my advantage. Gratitude helped me to see that I had resources that I was not using to help my cause. I began believing more in myself and my ability to work my own miracles in ways that I had not even thought about previously. I still do not know exactly what will happen in the future, but I know that I am up to the new challenge of being more creative to get what I want.
Challenge yourself to find something to be grateful for every single day. When you face challenging circumstances, be grateful for those experiences. It is okay to feel the anger and those emotions, but learn to shift into gratitude instead of lingering in those emotions. Remember that it is not always wise to judge our lives by appearances. Sometimes, our lives seem bleak, confusing and hopeless; but below the circumstances, new wonderful opportunities are emerging for us. Gratitude helps to keep us grounded and out of our own way, so that we can prepare for those opportunities that are on the way to us.
Copyright©2007 Jeannine Robinson All Rights Reserved