There are days that seem daunting and circumstances that seem overwhelming. No matter who you are or the conditions of your life, even if it looks easy to others, you will have days when you feel like giving up.
The best strategy I know for overcoming what life throws at you is to be grateful. Even in the most difficult, painful, scary, lonely, unfair, or heart wrenching circumstances, gratitude will help you make sense of it all.
What I’ve found as I’ve worked with enormously successful people is that they too have miserable days but it is how they respond to them that makes them champions. Gratitude is one of their daily expressions.
But how can you be grateful when your mother is dying, or your husband just lost his job, or your kid just failed his sophomore year, or you just totaled your car, or the IRS says you owe back taxes, or you just found out you have cancer?
Well, you start small.
God always brings something good out of something bad. Always. But very often we can’t see it when we’re going through it. Being grateful for what’s good in your life at the time will get you to the place were it will all make sense.
To be grateful in difficult times, you must purposely look for the positive in everything that happens. You do that by asking yourself these three questions:
What is good about this situation?
What good could come out of it?
What am I supposed to be learning from this?
The answers may come slowly at first or may seem trivial or meaningless, but the important thing is to keep asking the questions – over and over until the answers become apparent and guide you each day. They will get you through the rough parts and continuously point you in a forward direction.
Consider your most challenging situation right now. Write down each of the three questions and spend at least five minutes answering each one. Don’t stop with the first answer that comes to mind (it’s often sarcastic and defensive). Dig deeper until you can honestly see how this situation can bring something good out of chaos.
Be UNreasonable!
Ann Vertel
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Great article, Ann. It can be easy to think about gratitude in good times. Much more difficult, but more important, during challenging times. On our new site (Thankfulfor.com – an online gratitude journal) I’m always amazed by the things people post. During difficult times, to see others dig deep and post what little (or big) things they are thankful serves as inspiration for the rest of us.
Hello from Russia!
Can I quote a post in your blog with the link to you?
You are free to quote and link to any post on my blog. Thank you for asking!
Warm regards,
Ann
http://AnnVertel.com