What Is Your Thank You List?

What Is Your Thank You List?

I know our lives are not a dream, but we can make it better if we want to.

At times, we may choose to carry on pain, fear, self-doubt, and sometimes fill our days with: “I can’t, I did that, I suck on this, I tried, I wish, I don’t have, or maybe one day … blah, blah, blah. Why we, the smartest living creatures on this planet consciously choose to do that?

Life is Sweet

Listening to a friend of mine who is experiencing a hard moment, it came to me how reality comes full speed on our face precisely the way we choose to see it. What we see is what we get. Is the problem real? Yes. Can she do something about it? Yes. So, after the shock, she did. There are options and support around us, sometimes the only thing we need to do is ask for help.

It’s OK to feel sad, cry, but there is no need to use a magnifying glass or a microscope and make it a colossal drama. That does not help. Self-pity, as I mentioned in my previous blog, is a dark, yucky, dark hole that I don’t want to be.

So, What Does Help?

Well, as my dad used to say, when something unfortunate happens, we may fall. But after, we must stand up tall again, learn from it, shake it off, and let it go. Go back to the arena and move on with our lives. Pick up our pieces, see what can be done, and work with it.

I know. It’s one of my dad’s things: easier to say harder to do. But, I’ve got to give it to him as his recipe does work. When I stand up tall and shake it off, I must get out of my comfort zone, and that’s how I become stronger and wiser.

Because something didn’t work in the past, it doesn’t mean it won’t work in the future! How many times has life proven it to us? We have dramatic examples from all over the world, from big rockets flying to Mars, or being able to see infinite small pieces of our cells and control them. How crazy is that?

Maybe, what those scientists and explorers did, was change the approach to solve the same old problem. I am sure they face tons of adversity, made mistakes, but for sure, they didn’t give up. Can we do that in our lives?

Thanks *and* Giving

Yes, it is time to give thanks. But how? How to be thankful when we feel stuck in a hole and can’t find our way out? How to feel joy when we are in an unhappy mindset?

Simple answer: being thankful means accepting what the Universe gives us by putting a smile on our hearts. There is always something to be grateful, even when it is about the lesson we need to learn.

When we surrender to what is, we feel free to be happier and live in the present. We can choose to look at the possibilities around us and focus the way we want to see them. We open our hearts to take care of others, and by giving and lending a hand to others, we put our own difficulties in perspective.

One example I experienced was about one year ago. The first few times I took Benlysta, which is a potent immunosuppressive drug for lupus, I was terrified. I cried, not only because it is painful, but because I was not accepting the fact I had been ‘graduated’ to a more potent drug, and it had all those endless scary side effects.

After having to do that for a month, I decided to end my torture session. I realized what a blessing it is to be able to have access to a healthcare system that can provide medicine that improves the life of lupus patients.

It’s been more than one year now. Every Friday, like a swiss clock, I have the same routine and inject the drug. It is still painful, I still have side effects, but I am grateful for the magic needle that helps me get better.

It is the same situation, the same pain, but with a different way to see it. I embrace it. By being an observer of my own pain, I am able to open my heart and be more compassionate and loving to others.

As the Thanksgiving celebration approaches, I will write in my journal three different things I am grateful for and find ways to *give* love to three different people every single day. That is my commitment to myself.

We all need to remember to love ourselves and as well as others, and appreciate everything life gives us, even when we it’s not our first choice.

And you? What are you thankful for?

Yours truly,

Hope

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