ciao to regrets, bonjour to thankfulness

(photo using my Olympus PEN)

I'M TRYING TO make it a habit of reminding myself to be THANKFUL by writing down thankful incidents of my day in a 'thanksgiving notebook'. Honestly, at first it was difficult. When I was having one of those bad days I would dwell on the little details that made it a 'bad day' and couldn't swim out of the dark water of self-pity and frustration into the fresh air, that was the hope for a better day. But slowly I'm finding it easier to spot the thankful moments, even when the trigger for an event was originally resultant in frustration, self-pity, annoyance and at times even hopelessness.

It seems that being thankful is like riding a bike - you start with a conscious effort and it eventually becomes a more frequent feeling that comes naturally. It's easy said than done when you're not having a bad day. But on any other day when life brings traffic jams, sudden rain when you didn't bring an umbrella, extra things to do when you're already extremely busy, missing out on something you've planned for months etc..you find yourself being tested. So it is a challenge to be thankful regardless, but because it is a challenge I find it is more worthwhile when you realise that you've been able to rise out of that circumstance and still smile. The adrenaline rush of conquering your inner negative self makes you feel like a winner.

So why not choose joy rather than pulling yourself down into those dark waters of self pity, regret and hopelessness? For there are more better days still to be lived, if you only believe it. :)

x

p.s- Having said this, I still find it a struggle to be thankful because I'm only human. I found I couldn't do it without extra help from the man up in the sky aka God. So I give all credit to him for helping me see the brighter side to my day. There's no way I could do it without him because he promised me (Philippians 4:13) that he will give me strength to do anything.

To say the least, it's kind of amazing.