Over the last month, I have started a new trend to get my day going. Every day, I wake up and read a couple of things: a daily devotion and a daily motivation. Then, I make a list of three things I am grateful for. Not all of them have to be things; they can be people, places, or situations. But I make this list and have diligently maintained this habit over the last month.
Over the course of the year, I began my days feeling grateful and thinking grateful thoughts. Now, I actually put pen to paper and write down at least three things, sometimes more, but never less, that I’m truly grateful for.
People, places, and situations come into our lives every minute of every day. Some make us feel truly grateful, some make us feel unnerved, and some make us feel downright scared. But by taking the time before I begin each day to write down three things I’m grateful for, I start my day off on the right foot.
Being grateful is difficult, even in the wake of disaster. Even when bad things happen, even when you find yourself unsure of what to do with a certain situation, person, place, or thing. A sense of gratitude can really change your overall mindset and how you approach and view the world.
I’m not saying that everything is sunshine and roses. Today, one of the things I was grateful for was a somewhat uncomfortable situation in my life: a business deal that isn’t great and that I’m looking for a way out of. But I turned my perspective around to be grateful for it.
The essence of it is a real sense of gratitude, starting with making a daily list of at least three things I’m grateful for. Not all of these things are good; sometimes, it’s good to be grateful for things that aren’t going your way in life because they make you stronger.