10 Small Things You Missed That You Should Be Grateful Today
just waking up is actually enough to be grateful for
What’s the first thing you do in the morning? Coffee? Instagram? Email?
Okay, but what about starting your day with gratitude? Telling your appreciation of God, the universe, the world that you still have another day to live, a chance to do good, to redeem yourself, and to enjoy the blessings of being alive.
How often did you do this?
Every damn second is another chance given to you, another blessing to be grateful for.
“Nothing is ours except time, we’re entrusted by God of this single thing… Time is the one loan which even a grateful recipient cannot repay” - Seneca (Tao of Seneca 1, I.I)
One study was done by Harvard Medical School on positive psychology, and the effect of gratitude found that gratitude increases positive emotions, improve mental health, relish good experience, and is associated with greater happiness in life.
So, in this article, I want to remind you of the ten things that you might have missed today that you haven’t been grateful for (and you should be)
1. Sun
When was the last time you did sunbathe? Feeling the free natural warmth of the sun, enjoying its presence.
The sun is one thing that we should be grateful for every day; it comes up without we ever ask, giving us the warmth and energy to live.
2. Good quality air
For those who are still living in a place that has good quality air, rejoice it; be grateful for it; not everyone has the luxury that you have.
3. Health
Pandemic has primarily taught us how precious being healthy is. It is one of the blessings we should always be grateful for every day.
“But I work my ass off to keep in shape, eat healthily, and always wear masks,” you might say.
Let me remind you this: at this very moment, if a driver decides to run rampant towards you, you don’t have any control over it.
If a nuke comes to just near you, you don’t have control over the radiation.
If covid suddenly decides to infect people more harshly and severely, we might all be dead now.
Too many things are actually out of our control regarding health, so be grateful for it.
4. People around you
Imagine that you are living in a dystopia, where no one left other than you (and maybe your dog like the movie I am Legend by will smith).
How devastating that is.
We are all social animals. The people around us, no matter how strange they are, we should be grateful for their existence, for there’s no way we know that they might actually be the one who saves our life in the future.
Be grateful for them by being kind to everyone.
5. Our parents
Pandemic has taken our grandparents, mother, father, son, daughter; they took our family without flinching even a bit.
Having our parents near us, or at least just one call away is a luxury we should always be grateful for.
(I encourage you to call them right now and tell them you love them)
6. Clean water
Clean water has become more scarce right now since the (research on how the decrement of clean water)
If clean water is just a matter of you opening your faucet, then you should be grateful for it.
It is the source and one of the most basic needs of life.
7. Food
We could only live so far without air, four days without water, and 13 days without food.
It’s an essential thing that we all should be grateful to have every day, even better: without much of an effort.
Some people have to work their ass off, sacrificing so much only to have food on their table for their family
8. Peace
War, genocide, and terror are still happening around the world.
The people of Ukraine, Myanmar, and many other countries are screaming for peace. They long to go to sleep every day without feeling fear, waking up without worrying about getting blown up, and meeting with family without having to hide from the radar.
If peace is still free, rejoice and be grateful for it wherever you are.
For we don’t know how long it will last.
9. The scenery you are seeing right now
What I love to do every morning is to sit in front of my store, staring around the area, and be grateful for it.
Nope, I don’t live in a place where the scenery is greenfields, a beautiful hill, or a beach. I live in a suburb where the scenery is old shop after old shop after old shops, motorcycles, cars, and trucks are going around and a few trees here and there.
It’s not the best scenery, of course, but to still be able to stand there, and having peaceful scenery, standing there and alive, with nothing is after my ass, is something I could be grateful for.
10. Clothes you’re wearing
One that we might never be grateful for.
The thing that latches to our body right now not only covers our genitals but gives us warmth, gives us confidence, and gives us comfort.
It’s a small thing, but it’s also one of the basic needs of our life right now.
It’s so essential that not using it in public might indicate us as crazy people to society.
So, if you still at least have clothes latched to your body right now, be grateful for it. Not everyone can get it with ease. Some could only get it by waiting for others’ donations.
These ten things are a common everyday thing around us, but we almost always forget it and never say our grace for it.
Be grateful for everything that you have.
No one knows when it will be taken from you, no one knows how, and when the time comes, it might already be too late for you to rejoice it.
I want to give another shoutout in this article to fellow Coffee Writers:
- Megan Llorente, who reminds us that we all have superpowers that can change other’s life.
- Gregory Russell Benedikt with his story of how he feels came to feel that he’s enough.
- Destiny S. Harris, whose article reminds us to not let our mind easily influenced by others.
Hi! I hope you find this article helpful. I’m Michael, a certified mindfulness practitioner (certified by Achology), writing about mindfulness and self-growth on Medium & Instagram.
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May you have a blissful life.