6 things that I am grateful for in life.

6 things that I am grateful for in life.

By: Amisha Shetty

We usually get lost in our problems and all the surrounding negativity that we fail to appreciate the positive elements in our lives. We always want what others have. And hence, other’s lives seem more happy and perfect. We want a huge house, thousands of social media followers, yearly international trips, perfect body and all the things that others possess. Our lives seem to be imperfect and that we have the worst life ever. Look, there is nothing wrong with dreaming of becoming rich or travelling. But, what is wrong is thinking that we are unlucky because we don’t have certain luxuries that others have. This results in jealousy, low self- esteem and upward comparison. Every human being has these qualities, including me. In fact, I am guilty of assuming that everyone in this world except me, are happy for so many years. But over time I realized no one has a perfect life, and I have been taking a lot of things for granted. This made me to be grateful for everything that I have in my life.

Realization

I used to feel that I am the unluckiest person on earth with hell lot of problems. So, everyone around me seemed happier and perfect. I was sad because people have better looking bodies than me, more money and everything better than what I have. So I started hating everything I had. I hated my body the most and my life, too. Other’s body seemed more beautiful than mine; I prayed for what they have. Hence, I forgot about my life completely and was dreaming all day about living other people’s lives. This was the worst mistake of my life. It took me time to realize how blessed I was and that I have everything that is required to live a comfortable life. So, I thank the universe every day for all the happiness in my life.

Here are the things that I am very grateful for in life.

#1. Family and friends

You know there are millions of people who do not have a family to live with or share their joys and sorrows. Or unfortunately, some are living in extremely toxic and abusive environment. Whenever I used to fight with my parents or my sister or my friends, I felt they hate me or they don’t care about me at all. Whenever we get into a fight with someone over petty issues, we forget our genuine relationship with that person, the bond that we share. We take them for granted until they are gone forever.

Over time, I have learnt to be thankful to God for surrounding me with some amazing people. I realized that not only am I blessed with a wonderful family, I also have helpful, cheerful friends who never give up on me. I will never take them for granted after all that they have done for me.

#2. Good food and clean water

So, I watched these videos of some foundations helping the needy. And I was shocked to see how many people are homeless with no food and water. In one video, one man was eating a stale chapati and curry. I could never imagine eating that and neither do you. I remembered how our privileged asses waste food without a second thought. It is because we don’t know the value of a grain of rice, nor have we experienced hunger because we are served three full meals a day with clean drinking water and snacks.

As I watched the video, memories from back of my brain resurfaced. “Remember complaining about how much you hate the dish that your mom prepared?” asked my brain to me. As long as we don’t experience hunger and thirst, we won’t understand the value of a basic meal and a glass of water. Now I get why thousands of people around the world pray before eating. Because food and water are the most basic necessity to be alive. I am grateful that I can consume good food and clean drinking water.

#3. Education

Let me get right to the point. Millions of children are deprived of basic education around the world. Reasons can be anything- poverty, family issues, child marriage, etc. I want you all to put yourself in the shoes of one of those children and try to experience their sadness.

I think we all are lucky to have formal education so that we can read, write and share our knowledge in order to help others. Also, we have people in our lives encouraging us to take up courses and learn new skills so that we can lead a comfortable life. This is something that I will never take for granted. Since we all are fortunate enough to get access to education, why not help people who are not privileged as much as we are. So let’s all promise together: We will use the weapon of education to spread positivity, knowledge and help those who are not blessed as we are.

#4. Health

“Health is wealth”. I studied this in my primary classes and never understood its true meaning until I was an adult. I never realized how lucky I was to have a fully functioning body that does so much to keep me alive. Even when we are sleeping, our body continues to work without a second’s break.

I remember comparing my body to others- I was so into it. I didn’t like how my body looks. But then I asked a question to myself. What is it that your body cannot do that a normal body can? I sat back and was stupid enough to try finding the answers. I couldn’t find any. It made me cry because I have been hating my body that has been with me since day one. This body has given me eyes to see the beauty of the world. Ears to listen to people’s voice, music and chirping of birds. Mouth to speak and express myself. A heart that is full of love. Brain to think and process my actions and reactions. And all other organs that help me be alive. Whatever you want to achieve in your life, your physical and mental health plays a huge role.

I am never forgetting to be grateful for this gift of health in life.

#5. Strength to be able to push myself

We all are humans who go through difficulties, mood swings and bad days. It’s all part of life. But we cannot be stuck there for a long time and so we need to overcome those obstacles. To achieve this requires a certain amount of strength depending on the situation. And that strength is naturally in built in everyone. So we must never give up because we have that strength and power to defeat the negativity. I use ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ because I believe that we all possess the strength to achieve anything and it’s important to be grateful for this in life.

#6. Gift of life

What allows us to be grateful for everything in our life? Of course, life. Only a few people have the opportunity to be born and to live. We should be thankful for that. They say life is the greatest teacher, and it is true. It teaches us everything that none of the schools in this world can teach. We only live once and we all have different paths to go. So why not lead our lives without hate and jealousy. Rather, live in peace, harmony and love. Anyhow we have only one chance to live, so why waste it in living someone else’s life while we have our own beautiful path ahead.

Everyone is fighting their own battles. Everyone has their own struggles to face. We cannot assume that people who are rich are the happiest because in the end, everyone is a human being. And as I told you before, there is nothing wrong with dreaming of becoming rich. But, we should not get caught in the hands of comparison and jealousy and thus leading to a sphere of negativity. And we should never forget to practice gratitude for what God gave us.

What are you grateful for in life? Tell me in the comments…

Also Read: 8 Simple Happiness Hacks That Work Wonders