7 Deep Things To Be Thankful And Grateful For In Your Life
Your heart and mind open and smile like a newly blossomed rose when you experience the emotion of gratitude.
Sometimes you focus so much on all the bad in your life that you forget the good.
How to be thankful when you have nothing to be grateful for
Every time you feel grateful, it teaches your mind to become happier.
Happier people achieve more in life and get even more things to be thankful for.
And what if your life is so full of struggle and misery that you can’t think of a single thing to be grateful for?
Here are seven things that you may need to rethink.
Remind yourself of these simple and profound things whenever you feel down.
7 | Are You Alive?
If you are reading this, you are probably alive.
No matter how bad your childhood may have been, you made it to adulthood.
A lot of factors had to come together to ensure that you stayed alive for 18 years.
The greatest thing right now is NOT
- How much money you have
- Or how good your relationships are
- Or how much fame or power you have
The single biggest thing in your life right now is that you are alive.
Even a blade of grass needs soil, water, and sunshine to stay alive.
Think back and remember all the people who played some role in helping you stay alive as a child.
Someone gave you food, clothing, and shelter.
Someone helped you learn either by sending you to school or in other ways.
A lot of people contributed to this 18-year-long project of keeping you alive into adulthood.
Be thankful for all those people, and most importantly, for the fact that you made it through all that alive.
6 | Are You Human?
Of all the creatures on this planet, humans live the most comfortable lives.
Humans are the apex predator on planet Earth.
That means that humans hunt every other creature, and most creatures are not capable of hunting us.
Imagine the life of any creature in the wild.
Every morning when they wake up, they have to go looking for their breakfast.
And at the same time, they have to save themselves from becoming some other creature’s breakfast.
Most humans don’t face this challenge.
All the food you need for an entire year can be found in one store.
And usually, you don’t even need to travel far to reach that store.
No other creature has this luxury and privilege.
People often debate about the privilege of being born a certain race, gender, nationality, or something else.
They completely forget the greatest privilege is to be born human.
5 | Do You Have A Working Body?
Most people have some complaints about their bodies.
They wish they could be taller or shorter, fatter or skinnier, lighter-skinned or darker-skinned.
Some wish certain parts of their body were bigger or smaller, or wish their hair or face were a certain way.
In all these complaints, it’s easy to forget the most important thing.
Is your body mostly functional?
If you have working hands and legs, and can see, hear, smell, touch, and taste without any problems, you are privileged.
Because a lot of people in this world don’t have all the above.
Here’s an experiment that may sound corny but works wonders.
Every day after you wake up, when you are sitting up in bed and still rubbing your eyes, say thanks to your body.
No matter how many complaints you have about your body, look at your body and mentally say 3 times:
“Thank you body, for being so wonderful”.
This can feel incredibly weird or cheesy at first, but if you thank your body every morning for 21 days, you will notice an amazing change in your body.
What amazing change will happen in your body?
Do the experiment yourself and find out the surprise.
4 | Do You Have A (Mostly) Functional Mind?
With each passing year, medical science discovers new mental disorders.
Once upon a time, some kids were called restless; now they all have ADHD.
Once upon a time, some kids were slow learners; now they can have anything from dyslexia to autism.
Once, a few kids used to be called overly nervous; now they all have anxiety disorders.
And of course, the sad kids are now all called depressed.
As medical labels for mental issues become popular, you will discover that every single human has some mental problems.
And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
If you understand that no one really has a Perfect Body, it also follows that no one has a Perfect Mind.
The only real question is, how are you using this Imperfect Mind?
If you are reading and understanding these words, it means you probably have a mostly functional mind.
And that is something to be thankful for.
Because, as you can work on your body every day and make it healthier, you can also work on your mind every day and make it better.
3 | Do You Have Access To The Internet?
As you are reading this online, it is safe to assume that you have access to the internet.
You can hold the entire world’s wisdom in your hands because of the internet.
And yet, most people spend most of their online time looking at entertaining videos, pictures, or text messages.
If you have access to the internet, you have access to a magical portal that can literally change your life.
No matter what you want to become, no matter where you are starting out from, someone before you has already done it.
And you can find the story of how they did it on the internet.
The internet is a key that unlocks secret doors to rooms that hold all that you want from life.
Be thankful for the internet and use it to grow yourself every day.
2 | Can You Speak, Write, Or Type?
One of my earliest mentors once told me:
“You can get anything you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.”
And the first step to helping other people get what they want is communicating with them.
Being born human comes with the privilege of speech and language.
Humans did not become the apex predator on this planet because of their bodies.
It wasn’t really even because of their minds.
Humans became the unchallenged kings and queens of this planet because no other creature can communicate the way we can.
Imagine if humans could no longer communicate with each other.
Even with all their high intelligence, the entire human civilization will fall apart in just a few days.
If you can speak, write, or type in any language, you already have an important part of the formula to build your best life.
And you can get better at communication by improving a little bit every day with the help of the internet.
1 | Are You Mortal?
Yes, you are going to die one day, and that is a good thing.
Because that is what makes life worth living.
That is what makes every moment in life precious.
Every single day, no matter what else happens, you get 24 hours closer to your end.
Unfortunately, most people have forgotten this or are trying to forget this.
Because otherwise they wouldn’t have time to be angry, depressed, or anxious.
Once you realize that your time is constantly rolling away, you should also realize that every moment is precious.
Every moment you spend being angry, depressed, or fearful is a moment you could have spent doing something useful.
Your mortality is a privilege, because it constantly reminds you to spend every moment doing the things most meaningful to you.
Society may have one kind of expectation from you.
Your parents, partner, and children may have other expectations of you.
Even if you fulfilled all their expectations, your life will still come to an end.
What matters most is what activities you find most valuable and meaningful.
Are you spending every month, every day, and every moment trying to fulfill someone else’s expectations?
Or are you doing the things that are meaningful to you?
No matter what kind of people or events you encounter in life, their beauty and horror are in the fact that they will all pass away one day.
Time is the great river that washes away everything.
Cherish every moment, every person, every event, because this too shall pass away soon.
If you do not do this, one day you may wake up and find that life has passed you by.
When you look at any group of old people talking to each other, most of their conversations start with “Do you remember that time when we…”.
They are constantly reaching into the past to find some joy.
Nostalgia can become a recreational drug for old people.
If you don’t want to turn into one of those people who start every conversation with “Remember when we used to…”, then you must take action now.
Recognize that every day, every moment is precious and be grateful for it.
Make every day count.
