The Attitude of Gratitude

I’ve decided to make a conscious effort at NOT getting caught up in the negative things. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to see all the things that have gone wrong, or the things that are negative in our lives. It’s too easy to become overwhelmed with all the bad things, and not even notice or acknowledge the positives. I see this often in my own life. One of my favorite songs is by Francesca Battistelli, called “This is the stuff”. It sums things up quite well.

Lyrics to This Is The Stuff:

I lost my keys in the great unknown
And call me please 'Cuz I can't find my phone

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

45 in a 35
Sirens and fines while I'm running behind
Whoa

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff that's getting to me lately
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
But I gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

So break me of impatience
Conquer my frustrations
I've got a new appreciation
It's not the end of the world
Oh Oh Oh

This is the stuff that drives me crazy
This is the stuff
Someone save me
In the middle of my little mess
I forget how big I'm blessed
This is the stuff that gets under my skin
And I've gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing
It might not be what I would choose
But this is the stuff You use

Oh Oh Oh Oh
This is the stuff You use

I’ve sung this song to myself many times, and it serves as a reminder not to get caught up in the negatives in the here-and-now, but to seek out the blessings that are around me. I may be a struggling, single mom, with the weight of the world on my shoulders, but there are surely good things in my life, if I’m willing to look past the mess and struggles. I may not have steaks to grill for dinner, but I do have hamburgers. I may not have enough for a fancy vacation with my kids, but we do look forward to our camping trips (even if they are local), and we did get to take an amazing trip to the Wisconsin Dells that we have all worked to save up for. We may not have everything we want, but we sure do have a lot! We have cell phones and satellite TV, and my kids have video game systems that they play with their friends (even if they do have to trade games between friends and trade in games at the game store to get new ones). We have a place to live, even if it’s not where we want to stay forever. I have a great job, which I love, even though I’d like to finish school and get on to doing what I ultimately want to do. I may be constantly on the brink of financial ruins, and always seem to have more bills than money, but we still manage to have the “extras” in our life somehow. Somehow, things seem to work out, even if it’s not exactly how I wanted it too. Even when I’ve felt like the world is caving in and turned upside down, I know that God was there to keep me from falling into the bottomless pit. I may have to purpose to seek the ways that He has been there, to really search to find the good things in my life, but surely they are there. With that mindset, I’ve decided to purpose to find and acknowledge the blessings in my life on a daily basis. I’m also going to include my children in this, so they too can see the blessings in their lives, even in the midst of all their pre-teen angst. And so we are creating Gratitude Books, to record daily the things we are grateful for. By purposing to seek and acknowledge the positives, and recording them so we can reflect upon them later when it looks like the world is working against us, I hope that we can work to change our mindsets from the overwhelming feelings of negativity that are so easy to succumb to. I hope we can switch our mindset to the attitude of gratitude that makes it so much easier to deal with life’s struggles. It’s important, not only for me to think that way, but to share that attitude with my children. There really ARE blessings all around us, if we can look past the negative, dark things and not get overburdened by them. This is the first step in seeking them out.