Yup! I'm Grateful!

When things nose dive all around you and don’t bounce back quickly, you might wonder if anything will ever feel right again. You look out at the world and all you can see is the calamity and chaos. Your friends have suffered setbacks, your kids can’t play sports, your bank account is dwindling. So what do you do? It appears that some of us simply pop another antidepressant medication. Over twenty million people subscribe to some form of antidepressant and that number is based on those who actually went to get some help for coping with life. Millions of others just go day to day and on the downside, turn to alcohol and other unhealthy remedies, and on the upside, turn to exercise and faith.

It’s not easy. It helps to remember we still have a lot of things to lift our spirits, reasons to be grateful. You can be grateful for your own ability to make choices. You can define your own attitude and your own approach to dealing with struggle. You can choose things like volunteering to help others who are struggling even more than you are. You can choose to go take a walk and listen to uplifting music. You can choose to pray, to talk to a counselor, and to find a creative outlet to keep you busy and feeling strong. You can choose to laugh a little, and play a bit, and simply turn off the news and the social media feeds that are not serving you well.

You can also choose to count the blessings of what you do have. You know what I mean. You know you are in a pretty good place if you eat healthy meals and sleep in a warm bed. Countless numbers of people wish they were you. You can be grateful for your health and your family and the skills that allow you to work from home or go find a job. You can be grateful that you have neighbors who care about you and are there for you when something goes wrong. You have friends and people who want you to succeed and rise about the difficulties of today.

Whether you tap into Him or not, you also have God. He has not changed and that means He still wants to talk to you every day and help you  and bless you and see that you have a future that counts. He has loved you since you were born and nothing about that has changed. Share your heart with Him. Pour out your worries and concerns until He surrounds you with peace. Do it and you will have a sense that things will indeed get better soon. When you revive your spirit, a heart of gratitude will follow.  Be blessed today.