In the social media age, it is so easy to get lost in the comparison game. Having access to a virtual window of peoples lives does not help the practice of gratitude. I get it. Yet and still life is short, as this time in our world has shown. Now more than ever we need to learn to appreciate where we are and what we have. The consequence of not learning this skill–well, its bitterness in the future. And, we don’t have time. That said, I have compiled a list to 7 ways you can work to appreciate where you are in life now.
Appreciate- verb |recognize the full worth of.
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My Story:
The inspiration for this post came from a shared feeling amongst my sister friends. I’ve learned that we all have our days of yip yip happiness and gratitude, and our days of woe is me, what is my life. God knows I do, yet I know for a fact I feel at my best self when I live on the yip yip side of the line. Do you know what else happens when we are showing up as our best selves? We are more productive, more impactful, and we get closer to our goals. I know I want to build generational wealth for my babies, so I don’t have the time to show up drowsy and bitter, I got to get this money. lol
That said, today, with this post & series, we are putting an end to lack of appreciation, and we are saying hey girl, hey to the 7 ways we can work to appreciate our own lives.
Break it Down, B:
I did a little research, and below I make my best attempt at debunking those reasons we lack appreciation for the now, in an effort to flip them to brew more appreciation in our lives.
- Forgive. I know, I know. Heavy. How dare I begin this post with something heavy such as forgiveness. I get it. Who wants to get into our feelings today. I understand. But, I also know from personal family experience that we all have a tendency to hold on to hurts and transgressions that are long since past. Equally so, forgive yourself. Unfortunately when we don’t let go of them, the hurts fester and grow into resentment, disappointment, and a lack of focus. And you know us here at Being Classic. We are all about thriving and shining. Those two things become difficult to do when we are laden with hurts and transgressions we have yet to forgive. In order to overcome this, try writing out the pain the folks caused you, learn do deal with it it a healthy way, or seek therapy. On the other side of forgiveness, you’ll find more appreciation for the life you have now because the goodness in your life won’t be covered by the hurts of your past. (Ephesians 4:31-32)
- Fill your mind and heart with goodness. I don’t know about you all, but when I have down time, overthinking has time to run rampant. You know the old adage, “an idle mind is a devils playground.” It’s so true. I used to think that meant I had to keep my mind on God in order to not become susceptible to the devils games, but nah. It’s much more simpler than that. In short, if your mind is empty or not filled with something, negativity has the space to enter. More importantly, bitter thoughts have room to nest and grow?Who has time for that? Instead, try filling your time with things you enjoy, or things that will help grow your mind such as podcast and projects.
- Keep your Spiritual practice first. Sometimes it’s easy to forget who we are or for what/who we serve. Yet, when we stray from our core spiritual centers, we then comes negative energy, thoughts, and ungratefulness. Combat the possibility by keeping your spiritual practice first. For me, I try to begin each day with a prayer or time reading my bible. This time with God first thing in my day helps to activate excitement, focus, and gratitude. I end up feeling the presence of God for the rest of the day, and his presence doesn’t leave room for anything less that such as negativity. All around beginning my day in peace, yield more appreciation throughout.
- Throw away baggage that isn’t yours to begin with. This right here’s a jaw dropper, Whoaa Oh. *Sings to Trey Songz melodies* This right here’s a way maker. Let me sing my song. Let me break something to you sis, your mom’s troubles aren’t your own. Your family’s expectations of you and your life, aren’t your own. Someone else’s issue with how you live your life, how you turned out, the career you chose, and/or the babies you made, are not your own, so stop carrying them. If someone has a problem with the things you love and appreciate, let the issue be their burden to carry and theirs alone. Continue to live, love, smile, and be marry. That’s that on that. Okay. Okay. I have a little more to say. The sooner you let go of that baggage, the sooner you will be able to appreciate the gifts and blessings in your life. God got you, so there is no other reason to be concerned with anyone or anything else. (Proverbs 29:25)
- Focus on your blessings. I can almost bet you have much in your life to be grateful for. If your reading this chances are you are breathing, you are alive, and you are well. We can stop the list right there, but I’m sure there is more for which you could rejoice. I suggest, when you’re looking outward and tempted to compare yourself to someone else, or tempted to be down about something in your life, you count those blessings. Not to mention if you have blessings you count, girl, you are already winning. But try this anyway. Try making a list of the things you appreciate, so you can visit this list when you are feeling low. I’ll take a step further and add, when you wake up make a list, and when you go to bed make a list, so soon you will see those other concerns dissipate.
- Live in the moment. Sis, I know you are not sitting up here thinking about the past, or worrying about the future. Sike. lol I know how it is. I also know how easy it is to slip into overthinking. At the same time, we gain nothing by harboring on the past or worrying about tomorrow,(Matthew 6:25-34), especially when there is so much to appreciate about today. Enjoy the now while you have the chance. You can’t get it back. You’ll never be this young again. Don’t worry you can enjoy now and still build for your future. But now is the time to live it up. Otherwise, you’ll regret that you didn’t. And regret later will turn into more bitterness later.
- Apply love to everything. The bible talks about love as if it has good character. It doesn’t boast, keep records of wrong, patient, seek self, or angers. Love is lit. I want to be like love at this point. lol That said, I predict you’ll learn to appreciate where you are in life a lot more if you keep love at the forefront of all aspects of your life. For instance, if someone hurts you, love says keep no record of wrong and don’t anger. Say for example, you fail to meet someone’s expectations, love says be patient. Love has the answer to all of these potential causes of bitterness. In fact, love is the most appreciative thing, so if we apply love to all things, we’ll become more appreciative as well.
In Summary
I don’t mean to sound alarming, but if you don’t start enjoying your life as it is now, you’ll end up wasting time and mad yourself. And I can tell you right now, that’s not a good look.. You don’t want to be that grandma who is mean instead of jolly.
At the same time, if you keep harboring on what you don’t have, looking back at what could have been, or comparing yourself to some stranger you see on the internet, you might as well book you a first class American Airline ticket to Bitterville. lol I don’t know, sis. I’m just trying to help you out by saying your life is lit. You have great things ahead of you and even better things in front of you right now. If you don’t take a moment to enjoy this season of your life, it’ll vanish before you know it, and you’ll wish later you had it back. Don’t be her. Appreciate your blessings now instead.
We are rooting for you here at Being Classic!
Pay HOmage:
Thank you’ is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding.
–Alice Walker
Facts:
- Holding on to hurt covers and crowds your joy.
- Rejoice, since God got you!
- Save tomorrow troubles for tomorrow.
Pay Homage:
Thanks for reading!
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