Life & Therapy

Sometimes, we pay much attention to the things in life that are going badly, or that we don’t yet have yet, or that we no longer have. When our focus is purely on those things, it is easy to overlook that which is going well, the things that are working, and the things we have now. This is similar to being in a family where the misbehaving child gets all the attention, while the behaving one gets ignored.
Thanksgiving is a great opportunity to spend one day paying attention to that which we have right now, that which is going just fine. In fact, every day is a good opportunity for this, but you might as well start with Thanksgiving. Sometimes, it can be hard to find things to be grateful for, especially when life is just feeling difficult. One way through this is to think of something you’d miss if it were taken away from you this minute. It could be something simple, but vital, such as your vision, or hearing, or your ability to breathe effortlessly, or your ability to walk, run, dance. We take these things for granted when they are working smoothly, but when something goes wrong- it can be as if nothing else exists, and we just wish things were back to normal. For example, in daily life, we probably don’t think much about our lungs, but if bronchitis hits, then suddenly the lungs are in the spotlight all day and night!
Gratitude is a way to give attention to what we have while it is working for us, and Thanksgiving is as good a day as any to start a practice of daily gratitude. Practicing daily gratitude doesn’t mean we ignore our problems. It just means that we can learn to distribute our attention more evenly so that the “bad” things don’t seem like the only things in our lives.

For more on gratitude, go here: http://elyntromey.com/therapyblog/?cat=24