Gratitude

I've always found the idea of gratitude to be a bit...tricky, for lack of a better word. Not because I don't understand the concept, and not because I don't have things to be grateful for. I think it's because of the way gratitude sometimes gets talked about - like it's a magic bullet that will make us feel better, no matter the circumstances. It also feels like we're told we should have gratitude, which annoys me.

So this is MY take on the concept, that has helped me as I try to cultivate a 'gratitude practice' of my own (because I do agree with the idea that gratitude can be helpful as we move through the ups and downs of life). I think while we are thinking about what we're grateful for, it's also important to acknowledge the current reality of our situation, which could very well include some not-so-great elements.

I'll use a situation I'm in currently as an example. For the past four months, half of my house has been unusable due to water damage. In my case that means my kitchen, my master bathroom and my home office had to basically be gutted. And because of the layout of my house, it makes more sense for me to now sleep in my guest room instead of my own bedroom. And work is at a standstill right now because I've been dealing with my insurance company. The situation has been stressful and annoyingly frustrating, to say the least, and I don't have an ETA on when the work will start up again.

When I find myself stressed and upset about these circumstances, I try to let myself feel those things. And THEN, I remind myself of the things I'm grateful for in this situation. I've made myself a "makeshift kitchen" with my fridge, microwave and air fryer, I have a guest bathroom that is still usable, so I didn't have to move out of my house and disrupt my life completely during this time, and my kiddo's room is completely in tact. The fact that I live in the house that I live in, and can make it work while all of this is going on, is something I am truly grateful for. So I try to let that feeling of gratitude wash over me when I can. But like I said, I don't use my gratitude to try and cover up or erase my other feelings; it lives along side my stress and frustration, because life consists of ALL kinds of emotions and acknowleging the positive and negative allows me to live my life authentically.