Last fall, I wrote 2 different posts regarding Gratitude. Both looked at gratitude from the lens of the trial at the time. One was during the minimalist challenge, and the other was while food tracking. On the eve of Thanksgiving, I feel it’s only right to do so again.
Giving Thanks
In the latter of last year’s posts, I mentioned a class I took in college. One focus of the class, was exploring each student’s signature strength. It was derived from a personality test that ranked each a number of qualities. The signature strength I received was gratitude.
Being thankful feels like a cheat code in real life. Any time that I feel overwhelmed, frustrated, or crotchety, I can pivot my attitude to what I’m thankful for.
This might be easy for me to say. I’ll admit, I haven’t faced much adversity in my life. The hardest days of my life seem like a fraction difficult of what some people face every day. So don’t take this advice from me alone.
Viktor Frankl, a neurologist, psychiatrist, and Eugene Levy Impersonator Holocaust survivor, wrote in his book Man’s Search for Meaning:
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
If the Last Line Fails
Gratitude might be a last line of defense, but some days it just can’t hold up. Life might seem pretty great if we never had to experience any negative emotions. To be honest, I can’t comprehend a life like that.
The other day, I was watching Netflix. After a brief binging session, I found myself feeling sad. I was grateful for many things at the time, but I couldn’t shake the feeling.
At that moment, I decided to do the only thing I could think of, go for a walk. I didn’t try to cheer myself up or stop being sad, I just experienced it. I walked and analyzed my thoughts. Letting myself experience this feeling allowed it to slip away.
Before I knew it, I was off thinking about something else. Down some tangent, I was excited about some ideas bouncing around.
When it comes to emotions, sometimes we just need to experience them to move on.
Trying Out Before Buying In 