**Please note: the following post is not intended to diminish the prevalence or effects of mental (such as depression or anxiety) or physical illnesses. Gratefulness is not a cure for chemical imbalances or bodily malfunctioning. Please make sure you are seeking medical or therapeutic services for any symptoms you may be having!**

Gratefulness has been on my mind a lot lately. Throughout the past three weeks, I was able to celebrate another year of marriage, being a mother, and another year of life. And what a wonderful privilege and honor it is to be able to do so. Passing through life’s milestones and celebrations should always elicit reflection and gratitude - but what are we grateful for on the normal days, the not-so-good days, or even the terrible days? Are we still appreciative of what we have? Now, I don’t want to use this space to talk about tangible luxuries we have access to, because I hope that everyone reading this understands just how privileged he/she is just by having access to food, water, transportation, peaceful gatherings, freedoms, etc. Instead, I would like to talk about the posture of a grateful heart - how gratitude is essential to peace, joy, love, and fulfilling purpose.

True gratitude isn’t just saying “I’m grateful for [insert words here],” although that’s a part of it. And having honest appreciation isn’t always easy. It takes a lot of introspection to see where - or what - we have taken advantage of, and where we hold entitlement in our heart. The simplest way to see where we harbor thanklessness is to take notice when we start to complain and about what those complaints are directed to. Grumbling about little things, which we are all guilty of, only serves to blur our vision of the benefits we actually have. A good example is driving. Ever complain about traffic, slow drivers, tailgaters, etc? Those things distract us from being thankful for transportation, our cars, fuel, paved roads, our destination, and more. It’s almost a guarantee that if we thought about how appreciative we are about those things - our complaining would diminish. This is applicable to any form of gratitude in every part of our lives.

Having a heart of gratitude goes beyond surface level recognition and into a lifestyle of appreciation. It means easily finding and acknowledging blessings regardless of circumstances. It makes complaining harder and praising God easier. Thankful hearts acknowledge God’s daily extensions of grace and mercy, and call us to extend the same to others. Our purposes can often be identified where we have conquered suffering with praise and thanksgiving.

Sometimes, though, we confuse being grateful with the invalidation of our situations. Look no further than the example of others trying to comfort those of us who have chronic illnesses. When you are in pain every single day, hopeless and exhausted, one of the most used and cringe-worthy statements is “Be thankful you don’t have cancer!” or “At least you can still walk!” It can be defeating and hurtful to hear those things, but they are still valid points. It’s important to remember that not complaining doesn’t mean we hurt less, and being thankful our illnesses are not beyond what they are does not diminish our pain and suffering. What having a stature of appreciation does do, though, is take the focus off our afflictions and places it on the goodness and blessings of God.

For every bad circumstance we experience, we have at least one (I would say many) good element to be grateful for. Those elements are what we need to zone in on and what will provide an opening to authentic joy and peace. It is possible to have peace in a devastating situation, but that depends on where our hearts are focused. If we keep our eyes on God and His goodness, and remain thankful in doing so, He will give us peace that is beyond our understanding. And no explanation is needed as to why we will be filled with joy when we count our blessings rather than our struggles.

They say practice makes perfect and practicing gratitude is no exception. Every day we wake up we have something to be grateful for. By the end of each day, we should have tallied a very long list of things we are thankful for. Even in our pain, suffering, and darkness, there are beams of light even though they may be dim. Where we focus our energy determines our joy and peace, and it’s all a matter of choice. So how will we posture our hearts?