Have you ever woke up with a sense of dread?
I used to do that pretty much every day. It was self inflicted, really, a habit I formed over time due to my own thoughts and actions.
No one was to blame. My life wasn’t horrible. I wasn’t going through any particular agony of note. In fact, if I were to have stood back and objectivally looked at my life I would have had to admit that a good majority of my dreams had already come true and I really had it pretty darn good, especially compared to the majority of the world. A roof over my head, a good husband, and two healthy children. What more could I ask for?
So what was wrong? My attitude.
I got in a habit, which is easy to do, of looking for the negative. Often in today’s society, it is actually the “in” thing to do with pop culture encouraging us to be snarky, sarcastic, and complain about things – to raise ourselves up by feeling superior (which is why I have ditched pop culture but that is a story for another day).
Then, I went back to my roots, followed the example of my ancestors that the Lord set before me, got over myself, and changed my thinking. It was a process, but it began with only one step and when I dedicated myself to repeating that one step it eventually picked up speed and snowballed.
What was the step? I decided to look for things to be grateful for.
Cultivating a grateful heart has improved every single aspect of my life far more than I could have ever imagined.
But it started with me realizing that I couldn’t change the world…
but I could change me.
So I did.
You can shine when the odds are stacked against you – and it will actually be a brighter gleam because of it.
