Being More Grateful

I'd like to start out by thanking a good friend of mine, Zach Crowe, for helping me realize everything thats about to be mentioned in this post. Also, thank you for talking to me for an hour on the phone at 3 in the morning because I was upset, even though you should be studying for finals (oops!). Talking to you made me stop and take a step back and think about all the little things in life that I often take for granted.

Life is all about ups and downs. Some days are better than others, but no matter what type of day we're having, we should always be grateful for what we have. I even think that its on our worst days that we should appreciate life the most. When we focus on all the negative things that may be going on in our lives, we often tend to forget about all the good things, no matter how big or small they may be. We often tend to take things for granted, without even realizing we are.

Zach showed me that no matter how bad we may have it in life, there's always someone who has it worse, just like no matter how good we have it, someone has it better than we do. No matter how hard life may be, there's people out there who aren't lucky enough to wake up in a comfy bed, go downstairs to the kitchen and pick out something to eat from the fridge like we can. Some people have to walk miles just to get a drink of water, or go out and beg for food. Some people don't even get to wake up.

No matter what is going on in your life right now, it could be so much worse. A year ago, this comment would make me so angry, because I would think that just because someone has it worse, doesn't mean I have it easy. Now, when Zach pointed this out to me, it made me feel grateful for what I do have. Although life does get very tough, it made me realize how lucky I am to have things that many people don't have the opportunity to have.

The thing that Zach told me that stood out to me the most is that these people who have next to nothing, no clean, hot water to bathe, no clean water to drink, no bed to sleep on, are a lot of times the happiest people. This amazes me that people who have so little can be so happy. I learned its not what you have in life, its what you make out of what you have. If you choose to be upset and feel sorry for yourself, you're probably never really going to be truly happy. Its when you learn to appreciate what you do have, no matter how much or how little it may be, that you will be truly and fully happy with life.

So my challenge to you if you find yourself feeling sorry for yourself, is instead of thinking about all the negative things going on in your life, think about the positives. Think about everything that you are grateful for and I promise you will find yourself appreciating life more and becoming more happy. :)