Life isn’t always easy. It is easy, however, to slip into that space where all you can see is everything that is going wrong. We all experience challenging times and moments that feel like lifetimes of discomfort. These are the ebbs and flows of life. Things are not always smooth and fluid, but might I remind you: Life presents us with challenges not to break us but to make us — to reveal what it is we are made of.

In these moments, faith (knowing what you know without evidence) and will power (your inner desire to thrive and exist above all else) prove to be valuable tools. What I have also known to work like a charm in lifting my vision up and forward is having an attitude of gratitude. It has absolutely saved me from drowning in a sea of my own sorrows. Shifting my focus to all things the are good in my life versus all that is deficient has been a saving grace.

I encourage this not as an effort to diminish your challenges but to magnify all that is good. When we feel good we tend to magnetize more good rather than repel what it is we desire. Consider the person who seems to always have drama going on. They’re always complaining or whining about something. Things are never right. Something is always wrong by their own admission and there is always a reason they can give you as to why misfortune finds them. In their own eyes, they are victims. People are always doing them wrong. Luck is never on their side. Problems always seem to find them.

How might reality change by showing gratitude for what is going well? As long as we’re breathing, something is going well. We can be grateful for life, for breath, for health, for sunshine, for clean air and for water. These things are definitely birth rights AND we can still give thanks for them.

Realize if you are on a device allowing you access to the internet you have something to be grateful for. You have more than most people on the planet. Don’t allow the illusion of having less trick you out of your joy. Focus on what you want rather than what you don’t. Energy flows where attention goes. Just say ‘thank you’ when things get a little crazy!

Gratitude is a gift, please remember.

How do you stay grateful? Let us know in the comments below!

READ NEXT: Being a carefree black boy during the social justice movement

gratitude

Get relevant content delivered to you once a week