I must confess. I am grumpy. And grateful.
Yes, We Can
We can be grateful.
Not just us.
Everyone can.
Even the most grumpy person we know.
The most cynical.
The most punk rock.
The most intellectual.
The most in pain.
Depressed.
Worried.
Hopeless.
Addicted.
Everyone is grateful for something at one time or another. Because we are not only one thing. Those who are closest to me know that I am pretty darn grumpy. And I am grateful as hell too.
Actually I am an unlikely gratitude expert because I was not always so grateful. I have always been a naysayer (at my worst) and extremely pragmatic (to put it nicely). If we are thinking up ideas I am just as likely to have an exciting new idea as to find all the problems with the ideas. I am actually grateful for this ability of mine. Because really it is an ability to see things from different perspectives. Which is exactly what makes me great at practicing gratitude.
I’ve never been much of an optimist. Even with all these years of practicing gratitude and guiding others on their gratitude journeys I am more of a realist. I accept things as they are, prepare for the worst, and try to remember to celebrate the best.
I am also an unlikely gratitude expert because I like to talk trash. Not behind your back but to your face. Of course I don’t do this to everyone. Gotta read the room. Whether this is heckling a band, my friend, or calling out my own faults, it is something that I find humor in.
In addition to that I struggle with back pain and endometriosis pain and when I am in pain it is very challenging to find gratitude.
I bring all of this up to say that all of these things are true about me. Every last one of them and so many more. But they aren’t all that is true. I can talk trash and find gratitude. Be grumpy and grateful. I can even be in pain and be grateful for the numbing of an ice pack.
So please remember that gratitude is not this thing that other people naturally have. It is something that every single one of us has within us. We can choose it just as easily as we can choose a complaint.
And there’s enough room in our days for both. We don’t have to be ashamed of our complaints. Of our grumpiness. Our anger. Our darkness.
We are all of those things. And grateful too.
It’s partly true, too, but it isn’t all true. People always think that something’s all true.
~J.D. Salinger
You have a lot of complaints about it. That is true. But what gratitude is there as well?
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[su_note note_color=”#e7e7e7″ text_color=”#686767″ radius=”0″] My gratitude journey started in May 2011 and continues to this day. Thank you for being a part of it! A daily gratitude practice is simple. Write down three things you are grateful for each day. Download your free GratitudeGuide. My clients focus on gratitude and learn from their successes to make the positive changes they want in their lives. You can too. Call me to set up our first meeting 505.333.9336. [/su_note]