Hello guys and welcome back to my blog. How’s everyone feeling today? As I’m writing this article, there’s a whole tropical storm going on over here. Which triggers my interest in today’s topic. I hope this article will teach each and every one of us a valuable lesson. Don’t forget to follow my blog, like this article and share it with a friend.
As you all know 2020 has been a rollercoaster of bad news. We’re almost in september and 2021 is not looking any clearer. Every now and then bad news come knocking on our door. As if the Covid-19 wasn’t enough, now we have a bunch of hurricanes coming our way. I have lost count on how many people I know that have been affected one way or another this year. Hence why today I think we should all take a minute to thank God and be thankful for being alive.
Like I was saying to a friend earlier, 2020 taught us so many lessons in a few months in the worst way possible. But one thing we have to remember is that no matter what happened we are still breathing and that’s one reason to celebrate, be thankful and keep on moving forward. We have lost friends, family members, people we once knew… We don’t know why nor do we understand what’s going on but it’s life. We may not have a lot of reasons why we should be thankful but we can list a few.
Before we begin, many of you might be confused by my use of words. Gratitude and thankfulness are almost the same thing but with a slight difference. Being thankful is a feeling whereas being grateful is an action.
1. Show love to your closed ones. I always say this to people I meet. You should always show love to everyone around you because no one knows when they will leave this earth. Everyday might be our last day. Always tell people you love and appreciate them. Some of us don’t like showing emotions. You could just send a ❤ emoji to your closed ones and they will understand.
2. Always say thank you. There are two types of people that I cannot get along with : people who can’t say good morning and the ones who never say thank you. You should always thank others for the things they do for you, as simple as it may be. Thank you shows our appreciation and convey our attitude. Most importantly it is a sign of respect. My father always say ” Mèsi vle di banm ankò ” which is creole for “thank you means give me more”. When you say thank you, you trigger the other person to do it again.
3. Focus your attention on what’s good. You will never be thankful if you keep thinking about the bad side of things. Some people are like that, they always see the negative in everything. They are always complaining and they never appreciate anything. My brother always say that I should stop saying “what if”. Don’t make up scenarios, see the good in everything.
4. Thank yourself. Gratitude doesn’t always need to be focused on what other people have done for you! Sometimes you have to thank yourself for the good things happening in your life. You’ve made it to your dream college? You’ve bought your first car? You’ve been accepted for a job? Thank yourself for the hard work and dedication.
5. Live in the moment. Like I mentioned above we should not worry about the “what ifs”. Take a moment, breath and enjoy every single moment like it’s our last day, whether it’s alone or with people. Do not think about tomorrow. Most moments of happiness are short. Don’t ruin it by trying to overthink things.
6. Put yourself in someone else’s shoes. To be really grateful you have to imagine yourself in someone else’s position. For example, in order to be grateful for your parents or children ask yourself what would you have done, how would you feel if it was you who had lost someone during the pandemic or who had been in a car accident etc…. Then you will see the value of life and appreciate every moment with your own people. I know it’s hard to say that and there are other scenarios possible but it makes you open your eyes on your blessings.
7. Give back. I know one way to be grateful in life is to give back to the ones around you i.e your community. If you grew up in a place where water isn’t accessible or if you see that your neighborhood needs a trash can and you have the possibility to change that DO IT. If you see people around you struggling for something and you have it, give it to them. This is the place where you grew up, help the people as much as you can. I learned how to play the guitar by myself and there was a time where I used to teach two little girls who live in my area for free. It’s not much but it’s something.
8. Have a gratitude journal. I wonder if people still buy or use journals but anyways we have our smartphones now. As a weekly activity, you can try to list three things you were grateful for during the week. This will help you to keep track of your journey on being a more grateful person. There are a few gratitude journal apps available on your appstore that you can use for this matter.
9. Be positive. I already have an article on this that I will add the link below so I’m not going to elaborate on that. Don’t let negative thinking get the best of you. Always see the bright side!
https://karoslittlecorner.com/index.php/2020/06/04/5-ways-our-negative-thoughts-affect-us/
10. Stay hydrated. Water is the key element to stay healthy whether it’s for the hair skin nails mind etc…. Do not forget to drink your water. Buy a bottle and focus on drinking one bottle or more everyday. By doing so you’ll be thankful for having clean water meanwhile others struggle to find even one drop to wet their tongue.
That is it for today. I hope you enjoyed this article as much as I had fun writing it for you. Don’t forget that there’s always a reason to be grateful. You guys can let me know in the comments which subject I should write about. Until we meet again, stay safe (most importantly with the storm) and be blessed…. always!! See you soon.