“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

-Melody Beattie

In a time of chaos, division, and endlessly growing into what us humans call life we often forget to appreciate the universes alluring aspects. Instead we more so choose to focus on our flaws, faults, and don’t let me forget the bundles of stress. Most of us are centering our attentions to all of the wrong things. It would be impossible to ignore the negative, but we need to be paying more attention to the positive. Life should be full of balance, otherwise you might find yourself drowning in the debt of sadness. We may not be in control of the curve balls thrown out of abyss, but let me remind us, we are in control of our happiness. An extra dash of delight can be flourished into the blood of your soul simply by being a thankful person. With society distracting us from what truly matters and it being the most reflective time of the year, here are four things to be thankful for, right this moment.

Making peace with your past

Accepting the life, you have had up to your most current moments is not a simple task. No one necessarily hops out of bed and thinks to themselves “I’m okay with my past.” Healing is a timed process uniquely equipped just for you. But when the day comes where you feel at ease with past troubles, it’s a day to be thankful. Everything in life happens for a reason, but some of those reasons will be left unanswered, and know that unanswered questions are okay.

Having the ability to forgive

As humans, we have the gift to both forgive and to be forgiven. Imagine living a life where we didn’t forgive when we have committed wrong, and where our own feelings never got acknowledged when especially needed. Without forgiveness, we would have endless amounts of terminated, toxic, and poor relationships. Imagine the mental effect it would have on us eternally. Forgiving and being forgiven isn’t always easy. It can take weeks to years for apologies to appear. But apologies are essential for moving on with life. Really sometimes we shouldn’t have to forgive or be forgiven depending on the situation. But think to yourself, is there something in your life that needs closure? If you really owe someone an apology, do it now.

Living in this moment

You can worry about yesterday and imagine about tomorrow. The only time to ever actually live is today. Right now, this is it. Breathe, observe, learn, love, and do what you think has to be done to make tomorrow even better. But don’t decay tomorrow by curiosity. Be curious today instead. Appreciate and offer gratitude this moment. Is there something you can be doing to make this time more productive? Is there something new you want to learn or do? Is there a positive change that you want to make? Well, make today more productive. Learn that new thing that’s been catching your eye whether it’s from practicing body positivity to heavy weight lifting, or even from learning how to sketch cartoons to learning a new language. Anything. Make positive change within your life, but do it now. Love the world and let the world love you back. This all happens one day at a time. Time is also happening now, you will never get these past moments back.

Giving into the universe

Entrusting and investing yourself into the universe is essentially everything above and more. You can’t just accomplish one good task throughout your life and expect constant good given back. In fact, you can’t even commit just a few good things in one year and expect the world to favor you in return. The principle of giving into the universe is to emit positive energy every day, and to recognize your faults. You have to give consistently before positive frequencies follow their way back to you. Remember, life should be full of balance. Excuse my language, but shit is going to happen. After it has happened, recognize what you have learned from it then return to giving into the universe. Because eventually again, the universe will give to you. And never forget to then say, thank you.