Photo by Erol Ahmed – edited using Photoshop
Hello, beautiful readers!
For those of you in the United States, we are in Thanksgiving week. This means that a lot of people will be taking the time to slow down, spend time with loved ones, and express their gratitude for many different things.
This is admirable, but this post is about learning to live with a thankful heart all throughout the year, not simply on that one day.
I write this as someone who loses track of living with a thankful heart. I have a bad habit of allowing the negatives in life to overshadow the positives. I’m sure I’m not the only one!
It’s hard to be thankful when all you can see are the things bringing you down.
What I’ve learned is that when I look outside of myself and my own life and circumstances, I tend to see more positives. I end up truly seeing the people around me instead of a blur of dots in my peripheral. Not sure that analogy makes much sense, but they’re the only words I can come up with to express what I’m trying to say.
I guess what I mean is, when I get too caught up in my own life and such, everything and everyone around me become blurs that are simply there, not actual real-life things and people.
When I feel overwhelmed, I try to take a pause from my ‘reality’ and actually look at the people around me. That’s when I realize what the true reality is.
Once I’m outwardly focused, and I’m noticing people, I make an effort to go out of my way to greet people and thank them for the things they do and let them know they’re appreciated, no matter their role or anything else.
When I’m focusing on the people around me, my own personal issues tend to not seem quite so bad anymore. I’m able to start prioritizing what’s happening in my life. I start seeing the positives again.
Living with a thankful heart isn’t easy, at first. However, the more you focus on the people around you, the more you start seeing life for the gift it is.
When those negative times crop up – as they are bound to do – we start seeing the promise in the opportunities life affords us rather than getting mired down by the weight of the world.
Try it today. Start living outside of yourself. See the people around you for the gifts they are.
Listen here!
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