How I'm Focusing on Patience & Gratitude
With everything going on in the world right now, I’ve found myself becoming more anxious, more frustrated, and more discontent. I’ve been battling more discouraging thoughts than positive ones lately, wishing things were different than how they currently are. I wish that we could travel like we had originally planned at the beginning of the year. This was the year that I wanted to take my mom to Disneyland and I’m so bummed that won’t be happening. I wish that we could move into an apartment with a better floor plan and have more space, particularly a designated office space for me rather than our dining table. I wish that we could spend more time with friends without the fear of COVID looming over us. The list goes on and on.
I have been reading this wonderful devotional book that my mom got me, and I feel like God is trying to teach me patience and gratitude right now. It’s so easy to focus on what we don’t have—I think it’s part of our human nature. There’s an amazing quote from Oprah Winfrey that I think about often: “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. if you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” Sometimes it can feel so much easier to focus on what we lack because it feels like the easier path. The vicious cycle of the comparison trap is one that I’ve been caught up in many times before, and with how crazy and devastating this year has been, my mind has been in more of a fragile state which makes it easy to slip into those old thought patterns. I’m also not the most patient person, and it’s been especially difficult having to wait for things when you don’t have even the faintest idea of when they’ll happen. There are so many places we want to go to, and not knowing when we’ll be able to travel again is hard. But despite all of that, I’ve been trying really hard to fix my thoughts on the positives and all the things that I’m grateful for, because there is SO MUCH to be thankful for!
I’m grateful for my amazing husband who loves me so well, snuggles me when I’ve had a hard day, and supports me in all things. I’m grateful for the time I get to spend with my mom on the weekends that that she lives so close. I’m grateful for our health and that our families haven’t gotten sick since this pandemic took over. I’m grateful for my job and that I get to work from home indefinitely. Instead of going in a downward spiral getting caught up in negative thoughts, when I focus on all the wonderful things in my life, it’s the reality check I need to remind myself that I have no reason to complain. Yes, I will still have moments where I wish things were different because I’m human and and we’re all in the midst of unprecedented times, but I’m going to try and drown out the negative thoughts by focusing on all that I have to be thankful for. What is one thing that you’re thankful for today?
