If you enjoy this or it resonates with you, consider supporting me as an independent writer by sharing it and becoming a paid subscriber for just $6/mo, Thank you.
It’s been said that hindsight is twenty-twenty. I don’t know if that’s true, but we certainly can see things as we look back that perhaps we missed in the moment.
Like gratitude. Gratitude has been on my mind these past few days and I’m starting to recollect moments when I could have been grateful and I wasn’t.
Fortunately I believe gratitude can be backdated. Of course the next evolution is to develop greater gratitude in the moment.
Shortly after graduating we purchased our first minivan from some college students for $600. I realize you shouldn’t expect much from a van that cheap but it didn’t even last the weekend before it died the first time.
We fixed the sensors and knew it had an oil leak. Well that oil leak ruptured on a rural Idaho road, 15 miles from the small town our family lived in.
At the time is was less than ideal to be stranded, waiting for a tow truck and our family to come collect us. It also was rotten to feel like we’d wasted $600.
But as I was thinking on this experience this morning, I started to feel grateful that although it was Fall in eastern Idaho, the sun was shining and it was relatively warm. I missed this in the moment.
Gratitude doesn’t prevent or undo the hardships of life. But always and only seeing the problems and not the positives is not a great way to live, I know this because I’ve spent many moments living that way.
But I’m working to change it. That’s all we can do; seek improvement.
Book Club
Do you like to read and discuss non-fiction, or is it a goal of yours to read more? If so, participate in my monthly book club! It’s all online so you can participate in the weekly discussions anywhere in the world. You can view the reading list and schedules for free, but to participate in the weekly discussion threads, you’ll need to become a paid subscriber for just $6/mo… I look forward to hearing your insights!
Participate in the discussion today!
This one had me thinking all day, and I agree with you! I think you can absolutely back-date gratitude.
I love this! We are given so many tender mercies every single day! If we spend our time and thoughts on catching the tender mercies rather than focusing on the trials, our lives will be so much sweeter and we can have joy in our hearts and be happy! Which, in turn, can and will make our families happy! 😊❤️😊