Be Better

There Are Always Reasons to be Grateful

Three things to add to your gratitude list.

Living with mental illness is tough. That’s true even on the best of days. Add in any trouble in the world, and you quickly become overwhelmed. Darkness in society on top of darkness internally can be too much.

Besides bipolar disorder, I also have the physical chronic illness, Familial Mediterranean Fever. I’m no stranger to the overwhelm that can consume your life.

If you’re one of my regular readers, you’ve noticed I published considerably fewer posts in the last two months. My mental health is the main reason.

This morning, though, things are better. Today has been an exercise in gratitude.

If you’re not already keeping a gratitude list, now would be an ideal time to start. Practicing gratitude is an important part of good mental health. It can also be one of the first things to disappear when things get tough.

I’ve had some thank you cards to write for some time now, so today I forced myself to sit down and write them. As I did, I remembered my many reasons to be grateful and lightened my internal load. Here’s three of those reasons.

Friends and Family

Whether we have many or few, all of us have friends and family. We may argue with them, be disappointed in them, and at times be hurt by them, but at the end of the day we love them, and we know they love us.

If you’re keeping a gratitude list, this should probably go at the top. Write down the people who are there for you, the ones who come running when you call. List your family and other loved ones.

I am blessed to still have my parents and to live close to them. I also have a close circle of friends who are quick to take care of each other. We may not be large in number, but we are huge in heart.

Who are you most grateful to have in your life? Put their names on your list.

Health

It may seem like an oxymoron to talk about being grateful for health from a writer coping with chronic and mental illness. Yet, no matter how awful things are, there are always reasons to be grateful.

One of my favorite books is Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom. In it, the writer spends time with a former professor named Morrie. Morrie is coping with ALS, but continues to find reasons for positivity even as his life slowly slips away from him.

The part that sticks with me the most is that Morrie was grateful he could still wipe his own behind. Yet, even when he could no longer do that, he continued to find reasons to appreciate what he had, such as the people caring for him.

If we can walk on our own legs, breathe with our own lungs, or sit up on our own, those are all reasons to be grateful.

Chronic illness takes up a lot of my life and limits my social activities, but I’m still grateful that I can do many things for myself, including continuing to work to pay my own bills.

Take a moment and write a few of the things you can do for yourself.

Possessions

There’s no doubt that possessions do not equate happiness. There may be things that bring us joy, but those items are not happiness in themselves.

Yet, the possessions we hold are reasons to be grateful. If you have a home, a car, a bed to sleep in — each is a reason to be grateful. There are many in the world who do not have what we might consider necessities.

Even if all you have is the clothes you are wearing, you still have a reason to be express thanks.

I’m blessed to live in a comfortable home with a spacious yard. I have a comfortable recliner where I can spend the day reading or binge-watching television on the rough days. I have fluffy blankets to keep me warm without putting too much weight on me.

Look around yourself. There are no doubt many things in reach to add to your list. Go ahead, write them down.

Stay Grateful

Life is hard whether you are coping will illness or not. None of us are untouched by what’s happening around us.

Gratitude is a means to cope with your struggles. Remembering what you have to be thankful for will help you endure the trials.

For me, I keep a written gratitude list. Having something tangible to look at helps me on the days when gratitude is a struggle. Having said list in my handwriting only increases its value. I encourage you to try the same.

I wish I could write here that everything is about to turn around. I wish it was a certainty that tomorrow there will be no reasons for stress. If only I had that power.

Instead, I want you to know that you can keep going. Recognizing your reasons to be grateful will help you along the way.

Until next time, keep fighting.

Sign up for my FREE Sunday All Things Bipolar Newsletter (off-site link) and I’ll send you a few downloadable gifts to improve your life.