If You Can Be Anything, Be Grateful

Gratitude is the state of feeling content. Content with what we have, what we have achieved, and what is happening around us. It’s not always easy to be grateful or even optimistic about our half-full glass or new intern position at a law firm, but it’s a way of saying thank you for all the good things in our lives.

Often it becomes too easy to be pessimistic about the world around us, for it can be a harsh and unfair place. But if we choose to look past those rejection letters or disappointing moments and find the positive side of the situation, we show real strength. We are allowed to feel sad and angry about the thing that upset us, but we must never hold on to it for too long or let it change us for the worst.

Rather, wake up in the morning and be grateful for a new day. Be grateful that it will bring new love, joy, and doors that lead to new opportunities. Learn to shift your view and focus on the one good thing that has happened today, yesterday or last month, instead of five bad things.

Be grateful for the support system in your life, your family and friends that inspire you, motivate you, and lend a shoulder when the water gets a little rocky. Be grateful for the food you have, the clothes on your back, and the roof over your head. Be grateful for a stranger’s smile or a thank you when you give them the way or hold the door.

But most importantly, dear reader, be grateful for being you and the very best version of yourself. Be grateful that you have been made perfectly perfect, with your great qualities and attributes that are unique. Be grateful for the lessons you have learned that have shaped and molded your character to what it is today.

And lastly, be grateful for your smile, because you can use it to change the world.