It’s been a long week already. The weather is doing a number on my emotions, sleep patterns and productivity. I’m dealing with some highs and lows.
Lesson: If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Nothing terrible has happened, just interesting things in life. Even with all the back and forth, I have so much to be grateful for! So so much. I have shelter, an amazing love, great friends and family and a job I enjoy. I’m also healthy and insured! (this time last year, I ended up in the ER without insurance.) I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging, but it’s important to remember that things we take for granted are things to be truly grateful for. My life has improved so much in the past year and I want to relish in the joy of it. I know life is cyclical, and hard times can be just around the corner; that’s why it is so important to be grateful when times are good and enjoy it!
I would say most of my life I’ve been an unrelenting pessimist. I always saw the negative in everything and felt ill-equipped for life’s challenges. I’d now call myself a recovering pessimist, optimistic-leaning person with realist tendencies. I try to see the good in everything and everyone. I see an opportunity instead of a challenge. Maybe it’s maturity, experience or just the result of some work, but I’ve been able to shift my perspective on a lot of things. A big part of that has been practicing an attitude of gratitude.
When I found out about Kindspring’s 21-day Gratitude challenge, I signed up immediately! It starts November 7th and ends on Thanksgiving. They will send you tips and tricks to help execute your gratitude challenge. I look forward to showing appreciation to family, friends, strangers and community.
Small Acts Can Change the World
A little bit of good, can go a long way. Today I was riding my bike home from work and I was stopped at a red light next to a homeless man. His sign read, “I won’t approach you unless asked.” I tried to be discreet, but I could see him shaking his head as the cars passed by, pretending he didn’t exist. Before I left, I said, “I hope you have a great day, sir!” and he replied,
“Thanks so much for saying that.”
I started tearing up and thought to myself how simple that was. I felt so much joy just acknowledging this person’s existence, and him replying graciously with appreciation. So many times I’ve been the receiver of random acts of kindness and awesome acts of generosity.
It’s now my turn to tune into the many blessings I have, and express gratitude. Who wants to join me in this challenge? I know the PF blogosphere has many talented, creative and giving individuals and together we can change the world, with small acts of kindness and gratitude.
So how does this relate to personal finance? In so many ways, my dear! Getting through the doldrums of debt is all about perspective and trying to see the glass half-full. Which reminds me, stay tuned for a new post as a part of the Gift of Debt series later this week.
Start with acknowledging….what are you grateful for?
- Talking About Money and Mental Health - September 12, 2022
- Dear Debt, We’re Better Apart - June 27, 2022
- Announcing The Mental Health and Wealth Summit - May 4, 2021
23 comments
The gratitude challenge is a great initiative! I’m a huge fan of Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love’s author), and I make a little note each night (well… most nights), listing one thing I’m grateful for. The idea is that you store all the notes in a jar, and read them one year later – but that’s mainly an act of kindness towards yourself 🙂 I signed up for the challenge, though… being kind never hurt anyone!
I like that idea, I should start. Kindness and gratitude can go a long way. Thanks for signing up, let’s stay in touch with how it goes 🙂
Great post! I think I’m a recovering pessimist too. I recently had an experience that made me feel incredibly grateful for how wonderful my friends are. Nice, generous, fun, kind…etc. I don’t think you realize that until you meet the opposite of that. I’ve been feeling rather low lately (money, job, dating, not having anywhere to go for the holidays), so I need to focus a lot on gratitude this month (hence the ISWLG challenge). I hope it brightens my mood.
Hehe, welcome to the club Tonya! It’s funny how one thing can really turn on the gratitude switch. It’s seeing what you don’t want and feeling really grateful with who you are and what you have. This time around the holidays is hard for a lot of people, so take care of yourself.
Aww, great challenge, M! It breaks my heart to see elderly homeless people… after a practice run once, I gave the fruit that they pass out at the end to an elderly homeless woman, who graciously took it. The guy I was walking with was blown away, like it was a foreign concept to him. I agree it’s the littlest acts that can make a person’s whole day!
That’s so great! It’s smart to give extra goodies to people who could really use it. I had hundreds of hand-warmers left over after working a Marathon race. I ended up donating them to the local shelter– I know in PDX they will be put to use! Small acts = great rewards.
Small act of kindness matters not just towards people who you don’t know but even towards people you know and love. How often do we stop to do sweet things for our partners. I know I am guilty for that. Lets see if I can do something good for my wife that she will appreciate when we meet at home.
Thanks for stopping by, Mark! I agree, sometimes we take the people closest to us for granted. Remembering the little things with our loved ones can make a huge difference.
I love this post! My wife is the eternal optimist, and it’s great for me. I’ve struggled a lot with health problems over the last few years and that left me somewhat bitter and drained. Just like you, I’m working on finding the good in every situation. It’s there, even if difficult to find.
I am sorry for your health problems 🙁 It’s good you have a wife that’s an optimist. It’s hard to have two people who can tend towards negativity– I know! Luckily my partner and I are both leaning towards positivity, and we work on it together. We keep each other going.
LOVE this!!! As we work to get out from under LOTS of debt, we work real hard to see the glass as half-full. It makes a boatload of difference in our day to day lives.
Yes!! It makes it more manageable.
I really like your attitude – I would also consider myself a recovering pessimist. That’s partially why I started my weekly gratitude posts. It’s a lot easier to see the bad than the good, but focusing on the good makes a huge difference in your perspective on life.
Welcome to the club, E.M. 🙂 It’s made a great difference in me moving forward in life.
I’d say yes, it is maturity partnered with other things like wisdom and experience that shaped you into who you are now and what you now believe in. I used to be some kind of a pessimist too when I was younger. But then as I got older, I started to see the brighter side of life despite the difficulties that seem to be always there. Becoming grateful for anything worth appreciating however small has made me enjoy life better.
It’ll be different with the new lay, but health insurance was something I never had that all my friends had and I was so jealous because they had no idea how lucky they were!
Oh my, I meant *law
Health insurance is NOT something to take for granted. I know! It does feel luxurious to have it after being without for 2 years.
Hi M and thanks so much for a heartwarming and beautiful post.
“I see an opportunity instead of a challenge.” – That’s a great take-away from this post and your reaching out to that homeless man proves beyond a doubt that the tiniest acknowledgement of one as a person, is all it takes to make someone’s day…along with your own 🙂
I wrote a similar post a few days ago over on my blog and I guess that around this time of year, Gratitude gets thought about a lot more.
Take care and all the best.
Lyle
Hi Lyle, thanks for stopping by. Glad you had some positive takeaways from the post. We should think about gratitude year round, not just around the holidays.
I’m typically an optimist but life has kicked me around enough times where I had gotten a bit worn down. I’m much happier but it has been a process and constant focus and mental recalibration. I love this idea and look forward to doing this challenge.
Glad you could join the challenge 🙂 You are absolutely right, being more positive is about being focused. Sometimes about shifting your focus….
I love this! It’s so easy to get lost in what’s going wrong in your life. But when you find what you’re grateful for, you can’t help but smile and want to pass it forward!