Gratitude. It’s a broader subject than you would expect it to be. But, I think it deserves to be talked about. The good and the bad. Yeah, there’s definitely some bad in there. 

For starters, we all know what gratitude means. It’s the act of feeling grateful. But do we really know what it is? Cryptic, I know. Seriously though, there’s a lot we’re missing out on here.

When I’m grateful for somebody or something that they did for me, I let them know. Because, it’s important to know that your actions matter to others. But, how often are we just spewing words here and there without doing justice to those words and phrases? Gratitude can be shallow and oftentimes is. Take something as iconic as Thanksgiving for example. For years, Thanksgiving has been the time to express what you’re thankful or grateful for. I mean, it’s in the name. But, I bet many people think of expressing your thanks as a routine more than a meaningful act. 

But, my main topic of importance: let’s drop the shallow gratitude here. And the overselling of gratitude. 

Gratitude is not waking up every morning and making a list of everything that you’re grateful for and instilling a mindset inside yourself that you’re not allowed to have negative thoughts. You tell yourself that so many others have it much worse. You tell yourself that you should be lucky to have this great life. 

“Just be grateful.”

“Move on.”

“At least your life isn’t that bad compared to mine.”

These words are in no way going to spark a sense of gratuity in someone else. Instead, it fosters a negative connotation for a word that is only designed to raise one’s spirits. But, people don’t say this enough. You can be grateful for things in your life and still be unhappy. You can even put gratitude in the back seat until you figure things out for yourself first. It’s OK.

I know, I know. I spent the whole first half rambling about how gratitude is so important and precious. Mind you, it still is. But, gratitude is a happy feeling, meaning there is bound to be a counterpart. If we only experienced the feeling of thanks, it would be pointless. The point of having a high note is so that it feels different from when you’re at your low note. What makes gratitude worth it, what makes that happy feeling worth it, is when you can find it again after the sad feelings take over.

I think what I’m trying to say is whether you’re going through a rough time or you feel like you’re doing great, practice real gratitude. 

Nobody needs the overwhelming fake happiness in their lives. 

And nobody needs the being thankful for the sake of being thankful either.