Life Sampling and Gratitude
Oh, the holidays
Thanksgiving is nearly upon us, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to talk about gratitude. When you don't have a strong sense of self or direction, it can be easy to get caught up in focusing on what you don't have.The holidays are stressful for many (dare I say most) people, and a capitalistic society mixed with commercialism can be a recipe for a downward spiral. The holidays focus on friends and family, which can be hard for people who have lost family members, or find themselves somewhere without a support system.
Grateful for what?
It seems every where you look in at least November and December there are ads for decorations for your home, cooking appliances, recipes for large feasts, suggestions for gifts for everyone you know, and so on. Not only is it overwhelming, but it puts a lot of pressure to be a consumer.Although I have personally always loved fall and the holiday season, in my adult life I remember feeling stressed, ashamed, and broke because I couldn't afford to buy gifts for anyone, and I couldn't even afford to buy supplies to make a gift for anyone. I definitely didn't have the money or cookware to put on a huge feast. I just always felt like I was lacking.
Struggling to "keep up with the Jones'" is worsened by our obsession with social media, where everyone shows their best side, and every picture is perfectly curated to get the most likes. This whirlwind of consumerism and competition truly does not reflect real life.
Let's make it better!
In order to get in the habit of Life Sampling, it is important to curate and Attitude of Gratitude. This is a common thread through self improvement. I initially scoffed when someone suggested that a way to help with my depression was to find at least one thing to be grateful for everyday. When you are young, broke, and depressed it can seem almost impossible to find something to be grateful for.
Personally, I had to start my daily habit of being grateful in very small ways:
- I am grateful for my health
- I am grateful for my job
- I am grateful for the food in my fridge
- I am grateful for the roof over my head
- I am grateful for my clothes and shoes
- I am grateful for a day off
- I am grateful for hot/ running water
I had to remind myself that these things in my life that I was grateful for were not a given. Many people did not have this "basic" things. Sure, my life was hard. But there were so many things around me that I had become accustomed to and had begun to take for granted.
Before, when I had thought about things like my job, or the food in my fridge, or my clothes, I was focused on how these things could be better, instead of how privileged I was to have them in the first place.
Once my perspective began to change, I began to be grateful for practically everything I touched, saw, or experienced. This lead to an improved sense of well-being, and I began to generally be a more positive person.
What is the connection?
Having an Attitude of Gratitude and a generally positive disposition are connected with Life Sampling due to three main reasons:- Positive and optimistic people tend to see opportunities where others do not
- Being grateful for an opportunity means you are more likely to say "yes!" to it
- Being grateful and optimistic means you can better focus on what could go right rather than what could go wrong
Get Started!!
I challenge you to find at least one or two things you are grateful for every day for one week. See if your outlook starts to change. See if your world starts to look a little different (perhaps even brighter?). A daily practice of gratitude will open up the realm of possibilities for you to really get out there and Sample Life.
Let me know in the comments what you are grateful for. I love to see life from other people's perspectives.
I am grateful that you read this! Thank you!
You are 100% correct on the consumerism of the holidays and the immense societal pressure to 'celebrate' in certain specific ways. To make matters funnier, my mom's maiden name is Jones, so her extended family are the relatives we're near right now. I am quite literally unable to keep up with the Joneses haha. I vividly remember in college coming here for one holiday and being utterly flabbergasted at the amount of money spent on gifts in not one or two but *three* gift exchanges. I had brought one single present for my aunt and uncle, and even though no one else pressured me to give presents, I felt like we were worlds apart, and it made me feel so incredibly poor and inadequate.
ReplyDeleteI often find it difficult to be thankful for things related to physical health since I'm in pain daily and often just wish I could trade in this body for a newer model :joy: But this is a great reminder that there are always things to be thankful for. So today, I'm grateful for conversations with you and another friend and for the technology that allows me to connect and communicate with people spread across the world. Even in my lifetime, tech has come so far. I could never have imagined maintaining as many deep friendships as I do with people on multiple continents, and I'm grateful for that every day! And meeting likeminded people who are caring and supportive and who have similar goals of pursuing creativity and self-growth in the face of everything difficult? That's always a gift worth celebrating!
It's not the same thing, but what you're saying about gratitude here (particularly when you refer to optimism) reminds me of a kind of... crystallising moment I had a few years ago. Before that, I'd called myself a pessimistic optimist for years. I'd assume the worst in the hope that things would work out at least a little better than that, and I'd be pleasantly surprised. I entered a contest for something I really wanted to win, and I was telling myself at first just to assume that I wouldn't win. The numbers were against me, after all. Why would I open myself up to hope - and therefore, to hurt? I was in a thrift store, and I turned a corner and there was a wall mural that read, "While I breathe, I hope." It turns out to be the SC state motto. I now have it on my license plate! But in the moment, it just kind of stopped me in my tracks and made me reconsider my whole approach. Honestly, if I close myself off from hope, what's the point of anything? I realised that, in trying to avoid hurt, I'd been avoiding the flip side too: anticipation and hope and dreaming and joy. Hope is hard. I won't pretend otherwise. But ever since, I've firmly believed that it's worth pursuing. Now I've gone quite off topic, but ah well. You made me think and sent me on tangents, so I blame you! ;D
I love that a small sign was able to redirect your energy and way of thinking, Ren! I tend to think of signs like that as the "Universe" gently nudging me in a certain direction, usually away from something toxic or not self serving. Once I started paying attention and actually trying to follow the signs and gut instincts, I felt like a new world of possibilities opened to me. I was better able to make decisions because I trusted my intuition to pick up on small signs around me and incorporate that information into my decision making process.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy that you are relating to the content! As always, thank you so much for your comments! <3