The Power Of Gratitude In Difficult Times

It is just as important to express gratitude and appreciation when we face the difficult times in our life, as it is when things are going well. In fact, it is even more important to express it during the hard times.

When our lives are on a downswing, the last thing on most people’s hearts or minds is to be thankful, or in a state of appreciation and joy. When we are struggling, our soul tends to be more aware of the negative energy of what is going on around us. This can ultimately attract the manifestation of even more negative energy, stressful situations and unpleasant events. In the end, even more bad days will come our way.

However, when we decide to stand strong and stop the downward spiral of our energy, and to be grateful for all of life’s lessons, whether good or bad, our energy begin to shift for the better.

When I pay my bills (a task that most of us really do not enjoy), I always write thank you under the last entry in my bank journal. When I think of the reason for doing this, especially when it means spending money on things that are not tangible and sitting in my hand, the explanation comes very easily.  I am saying thank you for actually having the money to pay these bills – the hydro bill so I can have lights, the gas bill so I can have heat in the winter, the credit card bill for those urgent things I had to purchase, and the medical bill that allowed me to purchase the medication I need to keep my health in check, and so on. Even though these things may not be material things that I can feel or see every day, it means something at some point to make my life better.

Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for ~ Zig Ziglar

But there is a more difficult aspect of being grateful, namely being thankful someone hurts you! This was something that I personally struggled with for a long time. However, I was guided by my angels that it is especially important for me to be grateful during these experiences. I was advised to stop clinging to my misfortunes and the issues that had come up, and never focus on what I didn’t have in the moment. I was told to redirect my focus.

Instead of becoming resentful or depressed, I started to say thank you for the crap that I am going through in those moments, as I know that there is a blessing that will come out of it on the other side of the drama. I worked on directing my thoughts and inner soul in another direction… one of gratitude and counting my blessings (or what was good in my life). Some days it was simply the fact that I have all my fingers and toes.

As I practiced this new attitude of gratitude, the difficult times became less traumatic and stressful as time went on. I  I began to appreciate more all I have and learned to be grateful for those things that were temporarily out of my reach. I use the word temporarily, as I do not know exactly what Universe has planned for me. Something bigger and better? Beyond what I can imagine? I am now more open to simply accept and appreciate things as they are.

Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…it makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow ~ Melody Beattie

So, the next time a partner dumps you and breaks your heart, just say thank you, because you know someone better suited to you is going to take their place (as long as you don’t hold onto the one that left). Wouldn’t you like to be with the best person for you? That is what Universe wants for you.

Know that keeping yourself in a state of gratitude and appreciation, no matter what the circumstances, will bring you through issues quicker, attract new blessings, and change your energy for the better.