All the usual suspects.
I agree, these are important things to recognize and appreciate.
Its also a good to have a specific day dedicated to that occasion.
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So by all means, celebrate.
But over the last year, I have come to practice a different form of gratitude.
I wrote about my gratitude for all sorts of things about them, big and small.
It was just a sentence or two at first.
As I said, sometimes it was little things, sometimes big things: Opportunities they had given me.
What I had learned.
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A gift they had given me.
What weaknesses they had provided vivid warnings of with their behavior.
I had to be creative to come up with stuff, but if I looked, it was there.
A few months later, I came acrossa viral article about a designerwho had gone through a painful divorce.
It struck me that that there was something similar about my gratitude exercise and the small success I had.
It was easy to think negative thoughts and to get stuck into a pattern with them.
Epictetushas said that every situation has two handles: Which was I going to decide to hold onto?
The anger or the appreciation?
And on and on.
But in his own way, hes right.
We should be giving thanks even to the haters and losers.
Actually, thats particularly who we should be thanking.
The haters for pointing out our flaws and keeping us sharp.
The losers for being losers so we dont have to be.
The point is: There is something to be thankful for in everything and to everyone.
Even in and especially in a hater and loser like Donald Trump.
But there were benefits hidden in these situations and these interactions too.
It may not always be pleasant, but we embrace it because we want to get well.
Im not saying it will be magic but it will help.
Againnot simply for what is easy and immediately pleasing.
That comes naturally enough, and may even go without saying.
Because thats where gratitude will make the biggest difference and where we need the most healing.
However poorly it went.
Be grateful for it.
Give thanks for it.
There was good within it.
Over and over again.
Until you believe it.
