According to Dictionary.com, the definition of gratitude is the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful. In the States, we tend to do this once a year when we have Thanksgiving. But for me, it’s something that I do every day. I started to do a daily appreciation on my private Facebook page after seeing a Ted Talk on Positive Psychology by Shawn Achor (it’s amazingly funny and worth seeing) while being a substitute teacher for a Health class.
Every day I search out something to write. And so what I’m doing is looking for life’s positives. This search means that I don’t ignore the little good things in my life, but magnify them. And the bad stuff becomes lesser. Many people have a habit of focusing on the negatives and this becomes their life (self-fulfilling prophesy, my friends). While there are bad things in my life, and I’m not someone who is always positive, I like the fact that I try to find the good in my life and make those experiences more important than the bad ones. It’s too easy to be bogged down by the downers.
Here’s a visual for you – even in those places where it seems to be ugly, beauty can be found.