Grateful: Appreciative of benefits received; thankful.
Lately I have been learning more about being grateful and not complaining as much about my situations. I’ve realized more and more that people…including myself…have what I’ll call “big red bow syndrome”. What I mean is, we expect “true” blessings to be big and recognizable from a far distance. We’re thankful for the “little” things but we must learn to be thankful for the “practical” things also. For example…I used to be discouraged if I didn’t have a certain amount of money or if I couldn’t do certain things or even if I didn’t have a certain amount of people in my corner. It’s like, we miss out on the the great things in front of us because we only notice the things we can’t get a hold of. I used to complain about gas prices but I have learned to be grateful first because I have a car to put gas in and second that I have the money to do so.
I have learned to have a “God I thank you for the $.37 in my bank account because it means I’m not overdrawn” kind of heart. It’s still a lesson being learned but I’m getting better at recognizing a blessing when I see one. I needed to buy new clothes but didn’t have the money to really get what I needed…well Goodwill has $.99 Sundays and I can handle that! It sounds silly but it’s HUGE to me. I would get discouraged because after paying rent, my car note, car insurance, IPL bill, etc…I wouldn’t have money left over. But the thing was, ALL my bills were paid…not a couple…but ALL…nothing shut off…repoed…nothing set out on the curb. And I wasn’t wanting for anything.
My gratefulness is beginning to span far beyond what I have and it’s seeping into what I don’t. I have learned to be grateful even for the things I don’t have because maybe I can’t handle it or maybe it would cause problems in my life. Whatever the reason…what is for me, is ONLY for me so if it’s not mine then I don’t need it.
So…in learning to be grateful…I’m grateful for being tired right now because it means I made it through another day. In my bed…in my room…in my apartment where the rent is paid…the lights are about to be turned off…not disconnected…just a flip of the switch.
*grateful
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