Through more frustrating moments - difficult jobs, a divorce - I have tried to see the lesson available to me and not recreate the same patterns. By learning from difficulty, those moments, too, become opportunities for which you can feel grateful should your mind wish to view them as such.
The research undeniably supports a gratitude practice as a foundational element of joy. Brene Brown says, "In my 12 years of research on 11,000 pieces of data, I did not interview one person who had described themselves as joyful, who also did not actively practice gratitude." With that, J and I try to think of a few "thank you's" in our bedtime prayers, we say them out loud and it's become a part of our bedtime routine that I'm really glad we share.
Here's another good one, via Swissmiss
“My predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved. I have been given much and I have given something in return. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.”— Oliver Sacks
