What are you thankful for?

[SeekerOfKnowledge]

First, thanks to the admins and mods of this forum. Thank you for investing your time for free. I would really miss it if it was gone, and I bet many others would miss it, too.

But the reason I started this thread was that I need a personal reminder to practice thankfulness on a daily basis.

For those who are in mourning or for whom things are really rough it might sound odd. I have had moments in this life where I felt the same, like, who am I trying to fool? Everything looks grey when you lost a loved one or are unhappily in love, but the colors still are there, you just don't see them.

When all is going well, we tend to take too many things for granted. We sometimes only notice that they were not when they are gone.
We tend to overlook what we still have when we are suffering from a loss or are going through a particularly stressful phase.

Now, practicing gratitude, on a more down-to-earth level, can be seen as a psychological or maybe philosophical "trick" as it redirects the mindset towards the positive a bit (which has nothing to do with being ignorant or denying that injustice, pain and suffering do exist). It also may change how others react to us.
Some believe that gratitude brings more things to be grateful for in our lives.
On a more spiritual level, this is a way of spiritual practice and can help with shifting perspective.
Be it as that may, there is no harm in trying. And look for things to be thankful for.

And those who insist on seeing everything as absolutely negative best just ignore this thread.

So what are you grateful for?

I am grateful to have a loving husband. For every moment that pesky cat grants me to spend with him.
For my computer as I would have a hard time to listen to guided meditations or to exchange ideas with people from all over the world without it. There are many other things, but now it's your turn.

 

[Jim78]

I'm grateful for my daughter and for the hell I've been through this last decade. Its changed me for the better.

 

[Polaris8]

I am grateful for the simply things in life. At 60 I'm grateful for the fact that I am still mobile and able to get around and have my health. That I have wonderful friendships that have lasted 25-30 years of this lifetime. As many of my friendships have far out lasted any romantic relationships I have had as were 3 major ones in my life. Each one of them very different yet I grew a lot from the experience of all of them.. I am also grateful that I have a job, a roof over my head and people in my life that love me just as much as I love them. Some of them are living and some have translated from the earth plane however they are still apart of my life just in a different way now. Regardless of them not being physical anymore I can still senses and feel their love just the same.

P.

 

[fireflydancing]

I am grateful for my life, for the peace, I am living in, for the place I can call home, for all the opportunities I got to express myself. I am also grateful to experience the connection to a lot of soul friends in this life, including my two children.

There are still so many, many things I am grateful for. It would be an endless list. I also think it is important not to be ashamed of being grateful. I know, a lot of people are ashamed when they realize there are people who are in lesser conditions than themselves and they fall into depression because of that*. That's just a waste of time and energy because this depressive state is not going to help anybody or help to change any situation. In fact, you're even insulting the people who are in lesser conditions. Imagine their face saying: What... you have freedom of speech, you have your own home, you have a husband who is not beating you up every day, you have enough food in the fridge ... and you are not grateful?? Poor you!!

When you don't feel comfortable with social injustice, you should actively engage yourself and be the change you want to see in this world.

First, thanks to the admins and mods of this forum. Thank you for investing your time for free.

Thank you


* my husband, for example, he can't enjoy life knowing the chaos in his home country. I am absolutely sure his relatives don't want him to be in a depressive state for this. They want him to live the life they are not able to live, but he can't. So I know it's not easy.

 

[cloud potato]

i am thankful for you, asking this question. i am thankful for family, shelter, food and water. for this place and for this life- for discovery and growth, faith. i believe god has put people in my life that allow me to practice and develop my faith. the connections are magical, i am thankful for this and the perspective of sensing god in his creation. thankful for all the unique experiences that happen. for the heart sensation of gratitude, the peace that follows- the growing understanding, contentment and compassion for life. this is a special place.

ps... i forgot to mention... i am grateful to be employed. though my hours are reduced and the income is not enough to pay the bills. it is nice to be out of the house. reduced hours have also given me a clearer focus when i am at work, no idle time and no working to hard- it's a comfortable pace and a feeling of purpose like i'm serving the community.

 

[VITO]

I am first and formost Thankful to God for guiding me through hard times, being a stubborn person and a slow learner, God never given up on me in life, probably because i never given up on him altough i had a lot of problems with depression and PTSD most of my life, and thought about taking my own life several times, not because life is too hard, it is quite hard but hardship is not what botthers me but the lack of purpose, i had it then i lost it, now i am searching for it again. But im not worried, also i am grateful for the hard lessons in life and all the persons who came and gone into my life, they were all my teachers, all of them even my tormentors. I am grateful for all the astounding spiritual knowledge that i have learned in this life, it has for at least brief moments given me peace that i long searched for. Also i am grateful that i had been very helpful to certain people in my life, as a man who spent most of his previous lives in war, taking lives and destroying lives, in this one i have saved more then one life. I have helped people close to me cope with their life problems and not go into suicide. Also thank you all from this forum known and unkown, as it is very helpful to me and i think all of us to blow off some steam on this great forum!