No matter your social condition, if you are living on this earth you will undoubtedly face struggles. Sometimes we believe that our social and financial conditions will determine our ability to make it out of a negative situation unscathed. However, our attitude more than our buying power will ultimately determine our ability to be victorious in any given situation. Consequently, how we chose to look at our problems and how we chose to confront them is really a personal choice.
In other words, if you are human problems are inevitable but misery is optional.
This article in no way intends to overlook the fact that things are tough in America today. Foreclosures are at an all time high leaving homebuyers unsure if years of investment will be lost, 11.6 million Americans are reportedly unemployed and the markets continue to fluctuate chipping away at our retirements and investments. Even with the proposed stimulus package it would seem that the economy will take a while to get stimulated into action. Our collective social anxiety over the nation’s economical situation has manifested itself in many ways. Hundreds of immigrant families are returning to their countries of origin, many of them undocumented are opting to practice what is being a called “self-deportations.”=2 0Families are now carefully budgeting their incomes and drastically cutting down on non-essentials. In more extreme cases some are resorting to taking their own lives, unable to face financial insecurity.
Yet, in spite of the dire forecasts we need to pause and take a more introspective look at our circumstances. The saying is true: while there is life there is hope; the hope that we will survive this temporary bleak moment. But choosing to live life within the ray of hope instead of the shadow of misery will require that we live our lives from a different level. Not only will we need to clothe ourselves with fearlessness as suggested in our previous article, but we will also need to change our attitude towards our present circumstances.
Instead of an attitude of anxiety and desperation we will need to establish an attitude of gratitude. And while you might be tempted to feel that you have nothing to be thankful for. Realize that there is always someone whose situation is much worse than yours. Therefore, choosing every day to point out those things that you are blessed with will help you to see things in a very different light.
Is there a roof over your head? Even if it’s in line for foreclosure, you are not under a bridge or living in your car. Give thanks. Do you have bread to eat and water to drink? It is better than having to dig in a dumpster for your next meal. Can you still see, hear, taste, smell, and feel? Is the family together? Are your chi ldren still being educated? Do you have friends and family that you can call on for support? Do you have a place of worship where you can go to receive spiritual and mental upliftment? Give thanks. Give thanks. Life could be much worse without these “extra” blessings.
Gratitude can set us on a higher level of consciousness. It can make us begin to see life in its true perspective. Tomorrow is not promised to any of us because none of us is more deserving than the other. Therefore, we owe it to God to give thanks for what we do have.
It is also of fundamental importance that we teach our families, particularly our children, to have and attitude of gratitude. We need to teach our children to give thanks for what they have and to stop complaining or begging for what they don’t have. Learning to give thanks will make them more appreciative and even teach them to continuously exercise good manners
Having an attitude of gratitude breathes new life into any discouraging situation. It forces us to stop looking down with worry but instead to look up with hope. The extra benefit about an attitude of gratitude is that it is contagious. We begin to inject our mind with positive thoughts that will push out negative thinking. We also begin to influence others, for the better, when we speak words of encouragement and hope. Most importantly, we begin to our visualize possibilities for survival instead of dwelling in a prison of impossibilities.
0ATransforming our attitude from one of despair to one of gratitude could be a challenging process for some. We have become so used to speaking words of negativity. Worry, anguish, sadness and gloom have become the normal mind-sets in which we function daily. Unfortunately, these despairing attitudes only cripple our chances of succeeding and surviving. Even so, we can still chose the road of gratitude instead of misery.
Here are a few exercises that we can practice individually and as a family to have an attitude of gratitude:
1. Let words of gratitude become your first statement for the day. Before you step out of bed take a few minutes to meditate on at least three things that you can be thankful for that day. The first one being, of course, that you are alive.
2. Teach your children to give thanks. Request that they each tell you three things that they are thankful for before the day is over. You can use this exercise as a way of establishing a daily dialogue with them.
3. Start a “Gratitude Journal”. Instead of filling up pages of your diary with problems and issues write reflections on the things that you are thankful for and the reasons why.
4. Have a gratitude reunion. Get your friends and family together to celebrate survival. Life could be much worse. Mediate and thank God for the many blessings.
Copyright © 2009 by Norka Blackman-Richards
Norka Blackman-Richards, is an a djunct lecturer at Queens College for CUNY.
A writer, a minister’s wife, and an empowerment speaker on women, education, family and diversity issues, Norka is also the president and founder of a non-profit organization, 4 Real Women International, Inc. Visit her site at www.4realwomeninternational.org
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