This week’s Dime Store Philosophy: Gratitude Is a Practice.
I've decided to practice gratitude this November. Not because life is suddenly wonderful, but because complaining hasn't gotten me a discount on anything yet.
Life will give you plenty to be unhappy about. Bills, disappointments, bad decisions, other people's bad decisions, and people who somehow make their poor judgment your problem.
There's no shortage of material.
But I've noticed something about myself. It's easy to focus on what's missing while treating what's already here like it came with the purchase.
We complain about the job while someone else is looking for work. We get frustrated with the people we love, then wonder why we don't spend enough time together. We spend so much time waiting for things to improve that we forget to appreciate anything that isn't currently on fire.
Human beings. Remarkable creatures. Capable of turning a perfectly decent Tuesday into a congressional investigation.
Gratitude isn't pretending everything is fine. Some things aren't fine. Some people need to be left where you found them. And some lessons come with a tuition bill that would make a private university blush.
It's simply recognizing that even when life isn't going your way, everything isn't going wrong.
So this November, I'm making an effort to practice gratitude. To appreciate the people who show up, the opportunities I still have, the peace I've earned, and the small things that make a difficult life a little less difficult.
Not every day needs to be extraordinary to be appreciated. Sometimes getting through the day without creating three new problems is a perfectly respectable accomplishment.
And if nothing else, gratitude might save me from spending another hour being angry about something that happened three days ago. I have bills to pay. I can't afford to give yesterday free rent.
The world isn't going to stop giving me reasons to complain. I'm just trying to get better at noticing when it gives me a reason not to.
Yours Truly,
Lateef N. Watkins.
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#Hardluckny @[1140872136:2048:Walter Smallwood] @[1012821390:2048:Eukydis Webb] Eukydis Webb @[100001386643319:2048:Stephanie Watkins] @[100027447305288:2048:Willis D. Williams] happy birthday old friend
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