On Gratitude

It is so easy to get caught up on silly problems, and sure everything is relative, but I’ve gotta take a step back. It’s sort of in my personality to dwell and obsess and maybe it’s the Virgo in me… but I’m a perfectionist. And sometimes I have to actively stop myself from dwelling too much (thank you first therapist!) and spiraling and texting every friend to entertain my stress.  I was in yoga the other day and the teacher had us think of three things we were grateful for. Health will always come first to my mind. I really do feel so grateful that I have a body that lets me be active. Let’s me move, laugh, run, smile, care, feel, hug, love. A lot of people leave this earth too early and a lot of people in this world aren’t able to move. Then I thought about my support system. I’ve gone through some really hard times and I’ve made some really big life decision. My fam and friends have ALWAYS been by my side and I have no doubt that’ll change. I don’t remember what my third thing was but what I will say (and the point of this little essay) is it wasn’t material. I wasn’t thinking how grateful I am for my closet of clothes, for the mirror I just bought that I couldn’t decide on for a week, the new shoes I bought that I wanted forever, or the jewelry I wear. 

It is so easy to get caught up. It’s easy to feel weighted down by work and dating and every day stress. But when we think about gratitude and what we’re truly grateful for it really has nothing to do with the every day BS. It has nothing to do with losing 5 pounds, the size of your house, or how much you have in savings. When I start to panic over buying normal rise jeans vs high rise or dwelling over waiting too long to buy something that eventually sells up, I will definitely remind myself to think of the bigger picture. And think about how lucky I am that I have a roof over my head, food in my fridge, the cutest little nephews, a family that will be there through everything, and friends that will always be by my side.