When is the last time you flipped the switch?
Listen—we all go through hard times, but remaining grateful through that adversity is what will ultimately save your faith. This week, I want you to look around you and realize how blessed you are. In life, it's easy to focus on what we don't have. It's easy to fixate on what we think we need, and that often makes seeing the good incredibly difficult. We become blind to everything we have, because one thing humans excel at is finding something to be ungrateful for.
If you're focusing on what you don't have, there will always be something.
Stop chasing. Stop exhausting your spirit and resources—searching for something to be unhappy about will never fulfill you. In my own life, I can name times I've been blessed in every area of my life. There were times I was incredibly blessed, but still felt unhappy. I didn't have gratitude, and when I look back, I can tie that unhappiness and lack of gratitude to one of three things.
I'm either comparing myself, trying to change something I can't change, or chasing something I shouldn't be chasing.
More than anything else, those three things will attempt to destroy your peace. Often, we can't seem to quit judging ourselves. We can't seem to stop focusing on everything that's going wrong, and we don't spend enough time appreciating how far we've come. When you wake up in the morning tomorrow, I want you to do something special for yourself. I want you to fixate on something positive in your life, and I want you to cultivate peace instead of chaos. Stop speaking death into your life—bring life into your life instead. Too many of us have become people we weren't meant to be. Too many of us have settled for our identities, and too many of us are living for other people over ourselves. More often than not, a lack of gratitude is a huge part of that. That lack of gratitude leads to a lack of purpose, and when you've got no purpose, finding meaning is impossible.
Tomorrow morning, I want you to think hard about what makes you happy. I want it to fill your soul. I want you to define yourself by your blessings rather than the things you don't have. Stop trying to change things you aren't meant to change. Instead, learn to appreciate things as they are. Once you find gratitude, purpose will follow. Once you have purpose, nothing can stand in your way.
It all starts with you.
