On Half-Empty Glasses and Gratitude.
"The struggle ends, when the gratitude begins" - Neale Donald Walsch
It takes a while to truly understand just how blessed one's life is. Take me for example, I moved to a new country, met some wonderful new people and I'm living in one of the most beautiful cities ever! And yet, I caught myself drifting into the whole - "If I have XYZ I'll be happy"- attitude. I have a job back home which I continue to do from here. It's a 12:30 hour time difference and coordinating can be a pain sometimes, but then I also work with some fine people who make things much easier than they should be. I was complaining to my friend about my life the other day and she sort of put things into perspective (as usual!) with, "Here you are living the life which you've been wanting to for ages and yet your glass is half empty!".
That got me thinking about how often I have only looked at life as being 'half empty' instead of looking at it as 'half full'. It happens with almost everything in life I guess. You're chasing after a dream and when you finally get it, there are these gaping holes which gives you the "If only" syndrome. "If only I had a better job", "If only I had more friends", "If only I had more money", "If only...."! What happened to being thankful for all the other great things you already have going for you? Much like me, your glass is half empty at times. So do me a favour, do like I did, and give yourself a reality check. Take stock of all the awesome people in your life and how far you've come in life instead of lamenting about how much further away your "If only.." is!
It took me around two months of being here to finally come to terms with the fact that my life isn't as bad as I'd made it out to be. Two whole months of stressing out about the things I don't have and complaining to family and friends about how sad life was, had actually kept me from appreciating all the fine things I already had in life. Think of how much time I wasted by just looking at that metaphorical half empty glass, when I could have actually kicked back and appreciated where I was at the moment!
The next time you catch yourself sliding into "If only" mode, write down three things you're thankful for that day. It could be as simple as "I had the best cup of coffee today!". Forget the people who constantly try to bring you down and point out the things that are supposed to be missing in your life. It's your journey and it doesn't need to make sense to anyone else but you. Wake up each day with something to be thankful for, write it down, talk to your closest friends about it and watch how your perspective changes.
So here's hoping that your glass is always half full. Cheers!
