It’s Time to Have an Attitude of Gratitude

So, on Sunday our pastor was talking about “those” people. He was referring to runners. I had a little giggle.

I have become one of them. He obviously is not one of ‘us’. He was talking about how crazy it was to be a runner and eat kale, yuck. It was not that long ago and I was right there with him. ‘Those’ people are crazy. What can possibly drive people to run like that?

I then started thinking, why do I like to run? It’s not the feeling. The pavement hurts my knees. Sometimes if I’m on a road, the car fumes actually make me cough. I can tell how many kilometers I have run by what hurts. My knees always hurt for the first few km. By the 3km stretch, my lungs have stopped burning, but now I need to regulate my breathing. By 7km, my hips are so sore my stride changes. And yet, I would rather do this than a lot of other cardio. Why?

Well, for me it’s the alone time inside my own head. I solve the world’s problems. I rehash old arguments. I make list upon list of stuff that I need to do when I get home. I think of friends that I need to reach out to. And then I come around a corner and look at the view, smell something good, see something cute, look up at the sun and clouds and I am so grateful.

Just grateful that;

  • I am running.
  • I can hear that duck.
  • I see the sunset.
  • I am moving on my own steam.
  • I have a family whom I love to the ends of the earth and that loves me.
  • I am at my happiest.

We tend to wallow in all the negative in our surroundings. It is so easy. There is so much stress. So much sickness. So many people struggling. It would be so easy to put my jammies on and climb back to bed and decide “ I am not going to ADULT today” (love this new little saying, it makes me smile). We don’t do that though, instead most of us grumble our way to work and share the grumbling. The old saying “ misery love company” is just too easy.

We need to, on a regular basis, learn to be grateful. Some days it’s easy, some, not so much and those are the days we need to do it most. So make a list and repeat it on a regular basis. Then proceed to add to it. Be basic, not unrealistic, just real.

If you are a person of faith, as I am, I talk to God. If you are not, talk to whomever or whatever you best relate to. It’s not all about who you talk to, it’s about your attitude. Just be grateful.

Here is my basic list;

  • I am grateful for my husband and kids, soon to be grandbaby.
  • I am grateful for my parents and sisters.
  • I am grateful for where I live. I live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
  • I am grateful I have found blogging and that I love it and can do it.
  • I am grateful for my good health.
  • I am grateful for the opportunity to work.
  • I am grateful for the challenges that have me stronger than I thought possible.

Make your own list. Make it short if this is new or tough. Make it change as your world changes. Be grateful even through the tough stuff because one day you will look back and it will be hard to remember how you made it through, yet you did. We usually seem to, but we forget how hard it was until the next time. There will be a next tough time. That is human nature, but always be grateful. You don’t have to look to far to see someone who is in a
worse state than you are.

The more you are grateful for what you have, the easier it will be to find contentment. More contentment means less stress, less stress means more happiness and we all need more happiness in our lives.

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.­ – Albert Schweitzer

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