Tell Me to Be Grateful One More Time…
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
Some days it seems like my life is a hot mess. Do you know those days? The ones where you decide to dip your toe in the negativity pool to test the waters or drop in unannounced to the pity party without even bringing a bottle of wine.
Those bad vibes can suck you in harder than a Dyson vacuum (I always spell this word wrong, 2 “c”s, 1 “u”, just me?) and the spiral is OUT OF CONTROL.
I’ve been rejected and/or ghosted during my job hunt for the 201st time, my toddler and puppy peed on the living room carpet and couch, one week in and we’re halfway through our monthly budget, I need to rethink my life because everything is going to shit, oh, and my butt has gotten soggy.
When I get into a negativity spiral, it’s really difficult for me to pull myself out. Fortunately, there are people who care about me and I’m able to reach out to them. Unfortunately, it makes me want to block EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM because no one likes the positivity police showing up at the pity party before the bass drops.
You know what the only cure for a negativity spiral is? Gratitude. As much as I hate being reminded of it, and how much easier it is for me to try to distract myself through podcasts, online shopping or whiskey, gratitude is the only tried and true way out of a negativity spiral.
All I need is one yes and it could be the next one, I have a healthy toddler and puppy, and I have a house, we have everything we need need, I am healthy and loved, life is good.
The goal of gratitude isn’t to negate your feelings or guilt you into remembering that things could be worse, although they could. The goal of gratitude is to refocus your thoughts on appreciating what you have in the present because if you can’t find happiness in what you have, you’ll never find it wanting something else.
I’ll be the first to admit that gratitude is hard for me, especially on Mondays, but I’m trying. If I can stay at the pity party for 1 minute less each time, then that’s a win in my book.
