Everyone argues with their parents growing up, it's an uphill battle of opposing forces fighting for autonomy and control. But eventually we get older and, if you're like me, sometimes stray from your parent's advice and everything begins to go wrong. After learning the hard way, you start to see life from their perspective more and more and find yourself repeating those infamous words: "you were right, Mom." My mom's underlying lesson was always to just be grateful. It would anger me endlessly as I knew I felt grateful for what I had yet no matter what the instance was, the argument would always circle back to her telling me those three little words: just be grateful. Sounds simple, doesn't it?
Turns out, I wasn't as grateful as I thought I was. Gratitude is one of those words where you don't truly understand its depth until you grow up and experience more of the world since it's a word we see so often. You know those questions that prompt you saying, "if you could go back and tell past self something you know now, what would it be?" This is it: learn to be truly grateful, take nothing for granted. A wonderful thing happens when you learn to be grateful: nothing really seems so bad. When you're genuinely grateful, you adopt this positive mindset knowing that somewhere out there, someone has it much worse than you and would probably do anything to be in your shoes. This being said, how could you possibly be upset about or take for granted something that, no matter how simple it is, someone would fight tirelessly for? If you truly understand the gravity of this word, it trickles down into every aspect of your life.
Happiness, like everything in life, is a choice. You can choose to be happy just like you can choose to be "fine" with an unfortunate situation. It's important to remember that you and only you are in complete control of your emotions, not the other way around. Those who make good choices for themselves and have a firm grasp on their emotions live the best lives. Altering your mindset is incredibly difficult, especially if you have been conditioned to think in a different way. Doing something as simple as listing five things you're grateful for when you find yourself upset that something didn't go as you anticipated can go a long way. Little by little, you'll find yourself appreciating more of the smaller things in life and that sense of fulfillment will begin to quell our propensity towards greed.
One of my absolute favorite quotes of all time is "we travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us." I am incredibly fortunate to have grown up living comfortably with all of the blessings I have, including the ability to travel. I think everyone should travel at some point in their lives if they get the opportunity. You don't have to go far to immerse yourself in a different way of life and learn more about the world outside of your own four walls. The more you travel and experience life, the more you are able to empathize with others and be humbled by their experiences. With the internet bringing the world to our fingertips, it could be something as simple as watching documentaries about different cultures online. My point is, the moment we shut the world out and ignore their hardships, we become detrimentally engrossed in our own lives.
It's funny how such a simple concept that we've been taught since we were kids can change so much if we learn to understand its true meaning. Being grateful is one of those things where you get out what you put in. It's easy to say that you're grateful for your family or the food in front of you, anyone can do that. Imagine living through a difficult situation like being forced to go underwater with nothing but a big breath of air. Would you waste that air on words that may make you look good, but truly have no meaning to you?
