Gratitude

 I have so much to be grateful for and I make sure that I start my day with a gratitude list in order to remind myself that  gloom and doom is not reality.  I believe I was born disappointed and no matter what I cannot shake this inherent attitude of going through life like Eyore.  

Gratitude is an attitude, it is a description and it is a goal.  Disappointment can exist side-by-side with gratitude.  I want to make sure I can differentiate between the two - am I disappointed by circumstances and am I letting that disappointment dominate my outlook?  Probably.  If that is the case, the answer is to grow up, shake it off and get on with it.  

Am I dealing with a disorder of some kind - that mental illness that hits people when the seasons change and the world gets darker?  Maybe.  If so then the answer is do what needs to be done to combat that - walk, laugh, watch comedies on Netflix rather than adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe stories (which I really love, by the way).   

The answer seems to be to make a deliberate choice to look for the good and combat the bad.  Is it a spiritual battle, a physical one, a mental disorder?  I don't know but it probably doesn't matter.  Just take the action and be ready to help someone.

I am grateful today.  I will try my best to be grateful all day. Lord, give me the strength I need.