Giving Thanks for the Unexpected
So, this year has not been kind. To any of us. AT all. I know we said that about 2016 too, and then the election happened...and, well...here we are.
And, when things don't go well, when we're sad, when we think the universe is conspiring to ruin our good times, we tend to do a few things. We mope, or we complain, or we point fingers. It's rare that when life hands you lemons, you give thought to the best lemonade recipe you know, even though that's what we try to do and it might even be what we say we do. It just does not always work out like that.
What I want to be able to do, ideally, is look at a situation as an OPPORTUNITY. Even those situatons that are working my nerves--I wish I was able to be THANKFUL that I have a situation that can really test my problem-solving skills.
Wouldn't that be awesome? If I could look at it that way? Imagine how my perspectives would shift about everything. Nothing would be awful because everything would be a lesson in which I had a chance to learn something.
So, bottom line, I wish I was thankful for ALL opportunity, not just the ones that may provide immediate, tangible benefits.
So...your turn.
What do you WISH you could be thankful for? How come you're not? Can you see any way to change your own mind about it?
And, when things don't go well, when we're sad, when we think the universe is conspiring to ruin our good times, we tend to do a few things. We mope, or we complain, or we point fingers. It's rare that when life hands you lemons, you give thought to the best lemonade recipe you know, even though that's what we try to do and it might even be what we say we do. It just does not always work out like that.
What I want to be able to do, ideally, is look at a situation as an OPPORTUNITY. Even those situatons that are working my nerves--I wish I was able to be THANKFUL that I have a situation that can really test my problem-solving skills.
Wouldn't that be awesome? If I could look at it that way? Imagine how my perspectives would shift about everything. Nothing would be awful because everything would be a lesson in which I had a chance to learn something.
So, bottom line, I wish I was thankful for ALL opportunity, not just the ones that may provide immediate, tangible benefits.
So...your turn.
What do you WISH you could be thankful for? How come you're not? Can you see any way to change your own mind about it?
I try my hardest to be thankful for everything that I encounter throughout life, but for me I can be only thankful for things that cause me or others benefits. I wish I was more thankful for the life that I have, I get mostly whatever I want when I ask for it, I get to go to a good high school that has a good education system, and I get to have a family that most people don’t have, but I’m not always thankful for it. I tend to see the bad in most of the things that occur in my life, because the bad always seems so much more impactful on my life than the good. Sure I get mostly what I want, but that comes with so much effort put forth by me to achieve that, which is stressful. I live in a state, and go to a school that has a great education system, but there’s still so much bad in my high school, mainly from the people that roam its halls. There are lots of people out there who don’t have families, and you should be thankful that you do have one. My mom says to me all the time be grateful that you have a mother and brother, despite my father being dead, but why, it’s hard to be thankful for your family when they treat you like crap a lot of the time. My life with my mother is Sporadic, and bipolar at times, people say be thankful for all the good times you have with your family, but why should I be thankful for that, when the bad times outshine the good times, and why be thankful for having a bipolar relationship with your family members?(Makes no sense at all). Why should I overlook the fact that my father is dead, and that my family, my heart, and my soul are incomplete without his presence in my life. I’m not always thankful for my family, because my father is gone and I always feel my family is incomplete, and bittersweet without him. I wish I could be thankful for the friends I have, they make me happy most of the time, but some of my closest friends have hurt me indefinitely without even knowing, and because of that I am no longer thankful for them, because the pain they have giving me has shaped my views and impressions of them forever, and they will not be my friends anymore once I decide to end it, before I leave for college. Maybe I’m just writing out of my current emotions of life, or it’s the truth of my life, whatever it is just know I’m thankful that I was born with some brains, unlike a lot of people I know.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could be thankful for school. In theory school is a great idea, it allows children to learn and create lifelong friendships. Instead it's a competitive minefield. Take one wrong step and there goes your grades and friends. School can be nice sometimes but other than a one or two ( if i'm lucky) days a week, school sucks. There are people around the world who don’t have the same opportunities as me and can’t get the same “good education”,but like man some days I wake up in the morning and think about dropping out of high school. The reason why I am not thankful for school is because two years ago it almost took apart my life. Going to highschool a freshman with newly discovered anxiety is not fun. Not to mention my teachers weren’t the best. I also have issues being thankful for school because the system is rigged. As in 95% of the “smart” people cheat on everything and never do actual work. I can list at least ten people off the top of my head that cheat or can’t possibly be getting those kinds of grades on their own and have to be cheating. I see it all the time 24/7 and it bothers me really badly for some reason. Probably because I spend 90% of my life stressed over grades and studying. Just so I can pull off a eighty while mr.cheatsalot over here is about to get a 90. Also the school ruins everything that's good and whenever people start having a good time some people come and ruin it.
ReplyDeleteI also wish I was more thankful for basic necessities, I can wake up every morning get out of my bed and get water from my faucet. Something that people all over the world can’t do. If I am hungry I’ll get up and get a snack, If I’m cold I’ll get up and get a coat. All things that I always forget to be thankful for, the things in life that I need the most. It’s not that I am not thankful, I just often forget because it seems so natural to me. I don’t ever think about that glass of water I just got or the banana I just ate. I feel like if I just took myself off autopilot sometimes I would remember to be thankful for what I have. I don’t think I could ever be fully thankful for school. But I could be half thankful. Maybe I’ll try that first.
I wish I was more thankful for my academic abilities. I have always been put into advanced classes where grades become very competitive. Everyone strives for that better grade or to at least not be falling behind of their peers. Somewhere in this mix, we forget how lucky we are to be able to qualify for the classes we take. We are able to do higher workloads and still make honours lists. Especially for those that are lucky enough to have school come naturally to them, we don’t recognize other classmates may have this as an insecurity. One of my best friends will make comments about “not being as smart as everyone else”, but I take it as a joke because I don’t share her worries. Little did I know this was never a comedic topic for her.
ReplyDeleteAs it gets closer to senior year and college starts to appear around the corner, I am looking at college with more prestige and with prestige comes a higher tuition. I don’t look at these school because I am rich, I look at them because I know my grades will help with scholarships. Other people have to settle for where they go to college and some may not have even been guided in the college direction.
Recently I found myself wishing I had been more athletic like my brother or at least tried more sports than I have previously. This is because I’ve seen some of my friends that are already getting looked at by coaches at college and are practically begging for them to attend their school. For example, my best friend will not have to pay a dime to go to college because of how athletic she is. At times I envy her and wish she showed more appreciation when she receives letters, but ultimately I’m happy for her and know she deserves the praise completely. I just know that no matter how good my grades are, scholarships will only help my financial aid. I think back on this now and realize that I should be thankful I can qualify for these sorts of things and that I get the opportunity to attend college. There is just always the little thoughts in the back of my mind that I suppress because of the stress and worry they carry with them.
I can see that I’m smart, I am thankful for that. I can see I have a future, I am thankful for that. I can see I’m going to college, I’m thankful for that. However when it comes to my grades I know they can be better. Freshman year I ended the year with a 101 GPA, sophomore year: 102, and even though this year has just started, I’m mentally freaking out about my 99 GPA. I know I should be thankful it is that high, but...I don’t know, right now I just can’t bring myself to be.
I’m pretty thankful for a lot of things in life so this is a hard question. I love my family and friends a lot and I am thankful for the life I live and that I have food on the table and a roof over my head. I am also thankful for my family doing the most getting me whatever I want and need. One place that I absolutely do not like is school. I wish I could be thankful for school but I’m not. Although school gives me the proper education before the real world, and has amazing teachers that I can come to for anything. School causes stress. It is hard when you want to live a stress free life when you have school. I always think to myself why can’t I have a talent like singing or dancing or modeling or even acting! Then I won’t have study all night and stress over a test that will drop my grade tremendously or bump it up a little. School is also full of kids that I don’t want to be around. The hallways smell like weed and the majority or the kids are immature. I also judge myself a lot based on others, and not in a good way. I judge me grades and compare them to others. I get down on myself and think why am I not smart like him or as fast as a learner as her… that’s a big issue in my life. The only things that get me through the day are my friends and maybe some classes. Even though school is not my favorite it does allow me to see my friends everyday and make memories.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I am not thankful for is instagram. Now don’t get me wrong I love instagram, but it's that type of social network that allows people to judge you and hate on you. Now many people will say they love sharing their experiences on their and they want others to see it, but then complain about someone saying something about a photo. That is why my favorite app is VSCO it’s like instagram where you post pictures and all, but it has no comments or likes. Just you sharing your life without the world to verbally judge.
I try to never be selfish, not ever. I'm usually called selfish a lot by my family, so I always try to give any kindness to anyone who needs it (honestly, I believe no matter who it is, EVERYONE deserves kindness), and I never ask for anything that I want to have, just what I may need. That's why I haven't replaced my messed-up phone for a new one; that's why I don't have that cool new video game on my Playstation; that's why I don't have that really pretty dress that caught my eye at the store; that's why I don't have the next arc of my favorite book saga; that's why I don't have a cooler pair of eyeglasses instead of my hideous ones.
ReplyDeleteYou know, since the beginning of the school year, I noticed evryone around me had all sorts of neat school supplies that looked pretty expensive, like a single horizontal folder with dividers built in, or a cool and handy pencil case with beautiful and flashy new pens and mechanical pencils. I really, really thought all of those were so awesome and I wanted stuff just like that, but I didn't want to ask to buy any because they were little things I only wanted. So, I did my best to make my own. I doubt anyone's noticed, but I made my own little pencil case from my old braces-care-kit, all I did was take out the contents (which I never use anyway, so I recycled, yay!) and peel the sticker off the best I could, and BAM, a free pencil case.
That was a tad off topic, but I'm proud of that. Anyways, deep down, I wish I was more grateful for how my parents are towards me. I know they're super strict, my mother being super petty and paranoid to my father being emotionless, but I guess I'm a bit of a better person because of that. I see all of these other people always complaining about doing chores, yet I do plenty of chores everyday, and it'll help me in the long run. I hear all of these people get literally whatever they want, and most of the money is from their own parents. I don't understand how they can't feel guilty about even asking for whatever they want and then actually being told they could. The way I was raised, I guess that taught me to manage my money a bit better than some.
It's typically hard for me with my parents more, though, but a part of me is still wanting to be grateful for how they are sometimes. I hope they understand I'm trying my best to not take them, anyone or anythign else for granted.
The beginning of the year starts January 1, we all hope for a great year with nothing but good, we all make our new year's resolutions that we hope to achieve by the end, we spend the night surrounded by our closest. Unfortunately, the year never actually plans out the way it should. from the start i knew this year would be a bad one, I wasn’t ready for 2016 to end, and I really wasn’t ready for 2017 to start, at the time my grandmom has just been diagnosed with cancer, my best friend and I were fighting, and it had felt like my world was going to fall apart. There’s nothing we can do to stop time so I pretty much had to hold my head a little higher and get through it, like you said, “the only way out is through” and that’s what I thought then.
ReplyDeleteThough death is inevitable, and such a horrible thing, sometimes it can sometimes lead to better situations. As we all know my grandmom passed away in June and my grandfather’s my best friend but without the loss of her, my grandfather and I wouldn’t be as close as we are today, certain days it seems like he's my only friend, the only one that truly gets me, and my only supporter. I’m so beyond thankful for this man; he’s the one that puts a roof over my head and food in the fridge for me, he can make me laugh uncontrollably, and were always eachothers shoulders to cry on. It's entirely cliche to say, “i'm thankful for a person” but really I’m so thankful for his and my relationship and without the loss of my grandmother I don't believe we would be as close as we are today.
This world's a real shitty place yet home to all of us, shitty things happen all the time and most of us can’t do anything about it, we all wish different situations could go differently so each and everyone can result from happiness. I wish I could be thankful for a positive attitude and be undeniably happy all the time but others tend to ruin that for me. As most of these blog responses are about school, this is another, I wish all the fuckers in school knew what maturity was, from freshmen to seniors the majority don't know when the right time to be mature/ childish is. Half the people we go to school with are a joke, I really wish I was kidding when I say this but, I wish I was thankful for my friends but I really don’t have any, I believe I’m a great friend or at least I have the potential to be one but all my “friends” seem to switch up. I wish I could be thankful for my family too but half the time I don’t even wanna talk to my mom. It's almost as if my grandfather is the only family I want; I hate my dad and his entire side, my stepdads no longer alive, my sister's a bitch but her boyfriend is cool, and my mom isn't really a mom. For all of these examples, my grandfather makes it truly possible to be thankful for them, as he's mature and goofy, my friend, and my family.
I wish I could be thankful for my family as a whole but there are only a select few people that I can truely say that I love. Over my years substance abuse has effected my family. My mom’s boyfriend (my “stepdad”) came from Ireland with his son and happened to ruin the family my mom had going when I was 2. She was ashamed of what she did, but my biological father was a cheater too and, from the stories I’ve heard, they never really got along either. A break was going to happen at some point in my life and it is probably better that I grew up thinking I had no dad. I never knew that there was a man still out there that created half of me until I was 11 because my mom was so ashamed she never let us see him again. Back to my mom’s boyfriend. The minute he entered my sister and l’s lives creativity was a crime. He threw away coloring books and paint and I was not to be heard or seen. If I made a peep there was a punishment; quiet is how I keep in now. He had a tantrum every night that my sister would clean up so I would think it was a bad dream. Yelling and violence consumed my house for years. No one was happy. This was due to a cocktail of drugs and my mom following his lead but only becoming an alcoholic. His son left, my uncle left, my grandma left, and my sister and I could slip away for days before questions were asked. We had to move around every so often to keep questions from being asked. I really grew up the way I am because of my sister mingled with the financial support of my mother because she cared but she didn’t really have the time to be there between two jobs and being a student and a fulltime baby sitter for her boyfriend. Then unemployment hit and her boyfriend could finally afford a house, so we moved. That required my grandfather's help and somehow he made her boyfriend sober up. Nights were quiet, mostly because they were passed out drunk on the couch or we couldn’t afford to have bad habits. This sober man could be loving at times which was appreciated, but rare. My mom however was more present in my life, but I didn’t really know how to talk or make friends so I submerged myself in books. I don’t read much anymore. Her boyfriend didn’t like that I was smarter than him. Recently, my uncle has popped into my life. He is unstable and absolutely terrifying unless he is high. He can’t afford his old habit that left him on the streets homeless. He can afford something small here and there. He’s “trying” to change but in all honesty he is only nice when he is given something and then a second later he is back to being ungrateful and moody and the he is a full on terror. The men in my house are unstable. My family is scattered and broken down and the ties that kept us gathered once a year are dead. I don’t love my mom’s boyfriend or my dad. They are trying to get better but for now I can say thank you and mind manners. I love my mom and my sister they have tried their hardest to give me the best life. I can’t truly say that I love anyone else in my family, there are certainly a few outside of it, but I guess I’m ungrateful because I don’t have a family that is unified. I don’t have a family that always loves. I’m ungrateful because the majority of my “family” isn’t blood. The members are too absent to be considered people I know and love. I feel like I need to focus more on the positives and just try to grow as a person, make the first moves for bonding or getting to know each other. I have to wait until they let me in. I also need to understand that they have their own feelings and thoughts too and that their worlds don’t revolve around me.
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ReplyDeleteI try to always be thankful for the little things in my life and I always try to humble myself. Although, there are some things in my life that I could/should be thankful for that I’m not. For instance, fake people. I’ve been through a lot in my life so far and almost every dramatic situation I can look back on, I can honestly say that 8 times out of 10; a fake friend was involved. Even though I’m extremely thankful for the girl who shows me everything there is to be thankful about (my favorite person), I think I could be a little more thankful for the people who walked out of my life (or who I cut out of my life when they handed me the scissors).
ReplyDeleteI know it sounds weird now but think about it, noticing someone for who they really are is probably the biggest pat on the back you can give yourself. And, once you get rid of that toxic weight that has been holding you down; you will be a whole new and improved person with new and improved self love. Take my word for it, I lost about 150lbs just last month and I’ve never felt better (shoutout to her)!
I will start being more thankful for situations like those because they are the little stones that paved the way to who I am today. On the other hand, once I become more thankful for those (trashy) people, I can finally open my eyes to everything else that I have to be thankful for, like my relationship, real friends, how far I have come physically and mentally etc. I wish I would have seen the stress these people brought as an opportunity to better myself and be thankful for the things I’m excelling in sooner. But, you live and you learn.
What I wish I could be thankful for is… hmph I really do not know right now, I guess I could say the difficult and rough times in my life. Many of these difficult and rough moment’s really shaped me and help me be who I am today. These hard moments were what I used to call make and break time, because I knew If I triumphed I made it and if I didn’t then I was broken and had to recollect the pieces, which is where I would continue to connect/build myself together and start all over again. The reason I am not thankful for these rough times is because many of these situations were hard as shit and who would be thankful for having to go through many of these tough times, the anxiety and nervousness of what happens next. There were so many challenging moments that I either had to go through and overcome and once they were over, I was extremely thankful for the moment of ease and no longer having to experience whatever the situation or challenge that I was going through and becoming glad that it was over. From the way I see difficult and rough moments now is different than the first couple of encounters, I actually enjoy them (just a little bit) and don’t make such a deal about it once they happen. My mind is beginning to change about the way I view these situations and I am beginning to take them for granted because, I have learned from them and these situations do make me a better person and also give me a different perspective of the world.
ReplyDeleteThis year without a doubt has tested me when it came down to strength and pushing through when need be. I’ve always been a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, so during tough times, that’s what had always got me through everything. Although, there are things that I don’t understand that I wish I could. For instance, God has placed many obstacles in my way this past year, and I believe that He had good reason; I just wish I knew the reason. Instead of being thankful for the obstacles I have overcome, I get stuck on wondering why things happen the way they do and it destroys me mentally. I wish I was more thankful when it comes to tough times and how life simply happens; I feel like my well-being and mental health would benefit from this. Changing my mindset back to the happy and healthy one I once had is definitely a struggle, and I hope to overcome this obstacle in my life very soon. I just wish I knew why life happens the way it does, and if I knew, I feel like I’d be more thankful.
ReplyDeleteI wish I would have been more thankful for being able to play sports. I never realized how lucky I was that my parents could afford to put me and my brother on sports teams and be my Uber driver to every practice and meet. I also didn’t realize how fortunate I was that I was healthy and able to participate in sports. I didn’t realize all of this until my world came crashing down and all of a sudden I wasn’t allowed to play sports, participate in gym which all of you are probably thinking I was lucky, no gym that’s great. But not to me it was the worst thing ever and yes that sounds super dramatic but I defined myself as an athlete and that was taken away from me. I wish that those hard sets where my lungs anguished for my breath or the times where it hurt to get out of bed the next morning because it was leg day the day before. I wish I had been thankful for those times instead of wishing them away.
ReplyDeleteI wish I were more thankful for each day I live to see. I take life for granted, constantly feeling as if it’s not good enough. I barely manage to drag myself out of bed in the morning, when I should be lucky to be awake. I should be grateful that I live in a first world country and I should feel blessed to have food on the table and an education and a family and so on and so forth. Despite the amenities embedded in my life, I still seem to be unhappy half the time. I wish I were more thankful for some of the opportunities in my life that have been given to me on a silver platter; success and happiness are so close within my reach. Somehow the beauty of all that life has to offer me, is clouded be the stress my everyday life entails. I wish I were able to enjoy moments in life instead of being anxious about everything. I don’t thoroughly enjoy anything anymore. Sometimes I feel like I don’t deserve to get upset because I have so much to be thankful for. I wish I were more thankful for the path I’m traveling rather than getting discouraged every time there is a bump in the road.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I’m not thankful for each day because I see everyday as a struggle rather than a gift. I think I’m so focused on that “perfect world” image I have in my head and I fail to realize that nothing in life is perfect.
I wish will everything I have that I was more thankful for life. I know that sounds ordinary but it's true. I take for granted waking up the next morning when I really don't know if it's what's going to happen because nothing in life is promised. It's hard to say that I can change the way I feel about that because life is just something I feel entitled to. I wish I could wake up each morning happy that I did but honestly to me it is just the usual. Whenever I lose someone I realize I should be way more thankful for living than I am and I say that I am going to start thanking god for everyday I have but it slips my mind because I am just so used to it. Writing this now is making me think that I sound selfish and I am going to actually make a solid effort to change that because people die and people are born every second and I don't know when that could be me but I need to start realizing that I am not entitled to anything in life, no one is. I need to make myself see that no day is promised or secured. I think this blog is actually going to affect the way I view things now because before today I never really thought too much about things I take for granted. I wish I was thankful for living and I am going to work on it from today on.
ReplyDeleteThere are many things in life that I am thankful for but there are also a few things in my life that I wish I was more thankful for. Starting very recently, I’ve been constantly saying to myself and others things like, “Ugh, I hate my life” or something along those lines. So I should first start off saying how I wish I was more thankful for all the wonderful things in life and for all the things that I have and sometime take for granted. Being born here on Earth and being able to so far live seventeen wonderful years, I wish I would be more thankful for all of it. There have been times and events in my life that were not so good and I was not very grateful for it and I thought I genuinely meant it when I said “I hate my life”. Other than a few rough patches in the past, I feel like I need to start being more grateful for this life that I’m living because I never know how long I’ll have it. Secondly, don’t get me wrong, I am beyond thankful for my family and always make them my biggest priority, but I do also wish that I was more thankful for my parents. I should be thankful for having my parents being there all the time and supporting me with whatever decision I make with my life; even though at times they annoy me so much that I'd wish they'll leave me alone but I know they are just there to care for me, love me, want the best. I should start being thankful that my parents are not divorced or separated in anyway, having many friends who parents are separated and having them tell me how hard and incomplete it feels at times where they can’t spend any holidays or birthdays with both parents breaks my heart and makes me open my eyes to the fact that mine are still together. I must admit that plenty of times I wished that my parents were separated for some odd reason that to this day can still never figure out why. I love my mom and dad so much although I say I dislike them most of the time, I need to cherish and start being extra thankful for having the two most supportive people in my life, happy and healthy because like I said before, I’ll never know how long I’ll have them.
ReplyDeleteI think I am thankful for many things in my life. I am thankful for being here and being raised in a rather safe town. I am thankful for the friends I have and the memories I've made with them so far. As for what I wish I was thankful for I have already thought about that a few months ago and have been working on. My parent's incredible love for me has driven them to give me every opportunity I need to be successful. They have moved to this country, moved around for jobs, worked extra jobs just to put food on the table and keep our little family of three happy. Sometimes I just have a bad day and come home in a bad mood. They ask me what's wrong and I never really tell them because I'm just not the type of person to share that kind of stuff with others. And in our little household if one of us is in a bad mood it quickly spreads to the other two. I regret not giving an explanation to them sometimes as to why I might be ticked off and I realize they don't deserve this negativity. I wish I was more thankful of them being in my life and everything they have done for me. I guess this sometimes slips my mind because it's not something easy to be reminded of every day you know? So for the past few months or so I have made an effort to always be nice to them even if I haven't had the best of day. I tell them how much I appreciate them and what they do for me especially if they do something nice for me. And I try to give back. I will continue to do this until I am no longer wishing I was thankful for them, rather I truly will be.
ReplyDeleteI wish I was more thankful for my family. Specifically, my parents. And I mean.. I am. But apparently not enough. I’m not outwardly thankful or show my “gratefulness” as much as I should, as I’ve been told. When I won states, I didn’t run around talking about how awesome it was to win. That seems like bragging to me. It’s like rubbing it in, and that’s what I do with most things. Obviously I’m grateful and blessed to have what I have, but what’s the point of flaunting it? In some ways, I downplay many things that are so insanely awesome to everyone else. Because if I make a show of it, what kind of asshole am I then? However, I do know that I should be more appreciative of my family and all they do for me. I act like their extreme support and unconditional love is normal when not many people are lucky enough to have that. I think I do this because the way they teach me to be like that for all the people I love, so supporting someone you care about and trying to give them all you can is how everyone should be in my eyes. To say how I can change something I already know I need to view different seems redundant to me because I know it’s important. I’ll talk about ways I can change my actions in regard to the matter. Maybe I can start telling them how much they do means to me and how I wouldn’t be who I am today without them. In retrospect we are all thankful for the things we have or what is given to us, just not necessarily in the moment or we many not show it as much as we should. Though I get frustrated that my parents say I’m ungrateful for them, they only believe that because they aren’t mind readers. They don’t know that I appreciate them for who they are and what they do because I don’t speak up. So that’s what I’ll do.
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