Category: lifestyle

It costs nothing to be grateful,if you’re feeling less blessed,remember you’re alive and you have functioning eyes to read this. That’s something to be grateful for.
– Presh Olives

Even in the toughest economic or political times, there are numerous reasons to be grateful. The old saying tells us to count our blessings, but sometimes that can be difficult to do. It doesn’t have to be Thanksgiving for you to feel grateful and express that  gratitude. Every now and then, it doesn’t hurt to take stock of just how good you have it. Here are eight reasons to be grateful.

Life

You woke up this morning, breathing and with a heartbeat. You get to enjoy today and hopefully wake up again tomorrow. You get to see your family and friends, and enjoy food and life’s luxuries. It can sometimes be easy to forget to be grateful for the most basic thing: life itself

Health

”At least you have your health.” Heard that before? According to Valerie Reiss, holistic living editor for Beliefnet, you should be grateful for your health because it is the foundation of who you are. According to Reiss, you don’t necessarily need to be physically and mentally well to feel healthy, but when you do feel healthy, it’s one of life’s greatest blessings.

Employment

People often complain about their job, calling it the daily grind or worse. But having a job is something for which you can really be grateful. A job probably gets you out of the house every day and adds variety into your daily life so that you are not just sitting at home on the couch. Even more, a job helps you pay your bills and means you’re not standing in the unemployment line or wondering how you’re going to eat each week.

So even if you don’t have the most exciting job in the world, remember to feel grateful for it once in a while, because your life would be a lot different without it.

Family

Some people love ‘em, some don’t: families. If you’re one of those whose got family members who supports you, consider yourself lucky and be grateful. Feel thankful and express that gratefulness if you are lucky enough to have family who is more like friends: They’re people you can confide in and who will be there for you through thick and thin. Many people don’t have that kind of family, so be grateful. And remember to tell them how lucky you are

Friends

You can’t pick your family, but you can pick your friends. If you’ve chosen good ones, remember to be grateful for them and express your love and appreciation.

According to Reiss, friends are the families we make. Friends help you remember who you really are and who you can become. They remind you what you want and need, as well as what you deserve. True friends are there through your best and darkest times. Appreciate that connection. Express your gratitude every chance you get.

The outdoors

How lucky are we to have parks and trees and rivers and trails and animals and mountains and hills and oceans? The outdoors is such a blessing, and one for which we should always be grateful. According to Reiss, the natural outdoors helps you feel connected to every aspect of this earth — the ground, the sky and everything and every creature in between.

Free time

You may feel like you never have enough, but you should be grateful for what free time you do have. Free time lets you be you. You get to do your favorite things, no matter what those are. Free time allows you to sleep more, enjoy the outdoors, relax at home, garden, fish whatever you enjoy most. Be grateful that you get the opportunity to do the things you love.

It’s not because I think what you did was right; you were so wrong.

It’s not because you didn’t hurt me; you really did.

It’s not because I’m over the pain; I still cry when I think of you.

It’s not because I think you’re sorry; I’m pretty sure you still think you’re right and I’m the bully.

It’s not because I want to restore a relationship; I’d really rather claw my eyeballs out.

It’s not because you deserve it; you don’t.

It’s because I need to be free.

You haunt me, like I’ve never been haunted before. I think about you more than I think about the first boy to break my heart, more than I think about the friends who’ve left me, more than I think about my childhood shames.

When I think I’m happy, when I think I’m finally free and ready to move on, you come to me in a nightmare or a daydream. I see you walking into my school, my work, my church, my home, see you smile and feel myself crumble.

I get chills and my stomach flips and instantly I’m a scared teenager thinking she should die for everyone’s good. Thinking no one will ever love me. Thinking I don’t even deserve to be loved.

You hurt me, really hurt me. I trusted you and you betrayed that trust by treating me like crap, by trampling on me and tearing me down and calling me a monster.

You were supposed to protect me. You were supposed to love me like I was your own daughter. You were supposed to take care of me and make sure no one ever hurt me.

Instead, every word was a whip, every compliment a slap, every smile a lie.

I still ask myself why you chose me, what I did wrong, how I could have changed things, if I would have the scars I have if not for you.

I’m not free.

I’m trapped in an endless cycle of fear, anger, bitterness and self-hate.

The worst part is, I know what will set me free. I know how to move on, how to stop seeing your ghost and learn to smile.

I need to forgive you. I need to let you go. I need to take your memory and erase it from my mind and stop thinking about you. I need to stop hating you and just stop caring at all. I need to get to the place where if I saw you on the street I wouldn’t cry or scream or punch you, but would just keep walking.

I don’t need to smile at you, be your friend or say you weren’t wrong. I just need to forgive you.

I’m not there yet. I’m not ready to forgive you, because I’m still reeling from your attacks.

And just so you know: when I do forgive you, it’s not for you. It’s for me.

by Karis Rogerson

By Ella Ceron

 

I love my laugh. It’s my favorite thing about me.

(I know, in a society that values modesty above all other things, that’s not exactly something that you’re supposed to say. You’re not supposed to have favorite things about yourself; other people can have favorite things about you and give you compliments and you take them graciously, but you never admit that you agree. Well, I think that’s kind of silly, because if you love something about yourself, you should own it. But I digress.)

Someone once told me that my laugh is the kind of thing people know they’ve earned, that makes them feel good about themselves, because they feel like they were genuinely funny enough to earn such a reaction. It’s a loud laugh, because I’ve never been able to learn how to make it quieter and I’ve never bothered to try. I’ll giggle when I’m nervous — because I can never keep a straight face when I’m really freaked out — or I’ll text a polite ‘lol’ when I don’t know what else to say, but when I laugh, I laugh real. I think everyone should. Life’s too short for fake laughter when you find something really funny.

After all, why shouldn’t you react accordingly when you find something funny? I don’t mean the harmful-to-other-people, at-the-expense-of-others funny, but rather just flat-out humorous. And there are tons of scientific reasons why you should laugh – from stress relief, to combatting depression, to making yourself feel closer to the person with whom you’re laughing, to the fact that it works like a domino, and is bound to make people around you feel happier, too.

With the passing of Robin Williams and now Joan Rivers, and the untold number of tragedies that keep piling up this year alone, it feels sometimes like the world is growing a little darker, a little sadder, a little more cold. And though it always seems like there’s that paradox that the happiest people often put on a sort of sad clown act, making other people laugh to distract from their own demons, I don’t think that’s how people like Williams and Rivers (who had her own struggles, too) would like to be remembered. They made people laugh. They brought people together. They gave us moments of happiness in times that seemed especially bleak.

But when they’re gone, and things seem bleakbecause they’re gone, who makes us laugh?

Well, we do. We have to, if only to get through all that bleakness to the next bright spot, even if it feels like it might never come.

You have to believe it will, though. And you get there by laughing. Even if it feels false at first. But laugh at your own jokes (because I know there are moments when you say something that youthink is really funny, otherwise I’m a particularly narcissistic shade of lame for doing that myself) and laugh at the jokes your friends tell, and go out late at night and laugh about the things you did and said and strangers you flirted with the next morning. Make memories. Laugh until you cry. Make lame jokes and witty jokes, sarcastic one-liners and corny comments that make people look at you sideways. Laugh anyway. Laugh despite their looks. Laugh in spite of them.

Laugh every day if you can. Even if you feel sad. Even if some tragedy struck you. (Sometimes that’s when we need laughter most.) And don’t feel guilty for it, either. The people who love you would want you to be happy, and would want you to laugh. Surround yourself with people who you think are funny. Laugh honestly, and you’ll be surprised how many people will think you’re funny too, just by virtue of the fact that you’re laughing. And you’ll feel better. Even if it’s just for that night, about a joke you won’t remember five years from now, but you’ll remember how you felt and hopefully that was happy. Laughter brings happiness. And the world could always use more of that.