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  GOAL SETTING A college loving kid proving that he is not Nothing /Photo Courtesy /Tara Winstead Nothing? There comes a time in life when a kid has to grow up. And start making decisions. Life changing decisions for that matter. Decisions such as, going to college. And preparing for life’s biggest responsibilities. During this critical time. Parents are usually on the edge of their seats. They are on the edge because they are afraid of hearing some things. Kids have graduated high school and some have received invitations to some of the best colleges in the country. Parents in most occasions, want to keep the college conversation going. They want to talk about their kids’ college choices with their friends and neighbors. College conversation is a good conversation. Because most parents think that going to college is a window of opportunities. And to some extent it is, especially for those students who want to go to college. Kids that have already visualized the kind of professio...

4 SIMPLE WAYS TO BE GRATEFUL IN LIFE

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Grateful In Life
An excited young man being grateful seated outside looking at his laptop Credit/Andrea Piacquadio

 Things have been happening around my life. And sometimes, I have been busy to notice those things. There have been blessings and challenges. All happening interchangeably at different seasons. I have, especially took time to reflect on the challenges part because it caught my attention. Strange things happening, which I have never witnessed before. Things that are not part of my history. And they are camouflaging as though, they have been part of my story all along. So I took notice of these new challenges and how they were unfolding. I learned through my reflection that a foreign force had influenced some of the challenges. A foreign force was in the works. And once I learned that, I countered the situation in the best way I know. I had to come up with a strategy to fight. Some of the strategies that I designed to overcome the challenge led me to being grateful. Grateful that I partnered with a great person to help me navigate. I was grateful that, I was sensitive enough to identify hidden forces. And here are my lessons.

Be Present

You need to be present in your own life. You need to know your life so well that, when something changes you know about it. The games in modern society have also evolved. You also need to evolve. You need to be present in your life. And notice things and how they are unfolding. You need to build your life around a structure, which guides you on how you go about your business every day. For example, when you wake up in the morning, how many tasks do you go through before leaving the house for work? These tasks helps to tell the exact amount of time you need to go through them and leave. These are not tasks, tasks but things that are associated with your preparation for work. For instance, how many minutes in the shower, brushing your teeth, spreading your bed, and eventually finding the right clothes, and leaving.

You need to know these details not only to make you organized but also maintain a certain element of structure in your life. You cannot just be an anyhow kind of person. This is what it means to be present. When you have chaos around your life, it is very easy to be caught unaware. Foreign elements can invade your environment unaware. However, when there is structure, it is very easy to notice new things. If, for example, you take one hour between waking up and leaving the house. You will know something that slows you down. If you complete ten different activities in the morning before leaving, you will notice if, you go past one hour. And this will help you to double down on the exact issue or thing that is making you spend more time than usual.

Being present in the moment is not as common as it sounds. It is such a blessing to be a sensitive person. Someone that can notice changes sooner than later. If, you are at this stage of life, where you are present in every aspect of your life, you need to be grateful. Being present is a sought of third eye. An eye that keeps you in check. The eye also helps you notice your surroundings in a more open and authentic way. Being present helps you to know the types of people in your environment. Having the intelligence of your surrounding whether at work or at home is very important. You want to avoid as much trouble as you can. And at the same time, you want to keep scandalous people as far away from you as, possible. You will only spot wrong aspects in your life and deter them if you are present. Not everyone is present. So, be grateful for being present.   

Acknowledge the Blessing(s)

You need to capture events as they occur in your life. Count your blessings in due season. Also count your downfalls as they happen. This is your raw life. Life happening according to your season. Capture all these moments. These events have a story to tell about you. Counting your blessings for example, speaks about your character. Do you say thank you for every new milestone you achieve? For all the blessings that come your way every day or every year?  You need to acknowledge the blessing or blessings and be grateful. Be grateful that you had a problem, sought a solution for it and now you are living in the bliss of finding the right solution to your problems. Be grateful that you thought that way. That your instincts advised you to find a solution. And you dedicated your time and resources to find the right solution.

Acknowledge the blessing that came with being a good thinker and leaning towards solutions. Acknowledge all the new things that happened in your life now or in the past. Things that you requested and they happened. Things that made you happy. Things that kept you in a good mood. Things that gave you more reasons to love your work or your life. Acknowledge them. Be grateful for having what you have. For having all your requests fulfilled. Some people struggle with what you find obvious. Solving problems to you could be obvious. However, to some people, solving problems is a big problem of its won. Some people prefer to slide their problems on the left. They prefer those problems staying on the left until further notice. But you are prompt. You are present. You are sensitive. You are alive in your own life and needs.

Be grateful for being build this way and being the kind of person you are today. Someone that takes action. Someone that counts his or her blessings. Someone that is a mover. You don’t wait to be reminded. You take initiatives. You do not wait for another person to tell you that you are blessed. You recognize that by yourself and you do something about it. Being grateful in life is not about saying thank you when your tank is full. Being grateful in life is knowing when to say thank you. It is about looking around your life and recognizing things that are not obvious. Things that occur as a result of having some favor. Be grateful that you always find people to collaborate with when you badly need a collaborator. Be grateful in life. Recognize your blessings. Count them and be grateful. Blessings do not just happen. Blessings are called for in different ways. Be grateful that you called yours and it manifested.

Pray

Prayer is a wonderful strategy to add to your life. Pray for everything. Use prayer as a sign of thanksgiving for things that matter to you. And praying has nothing to do with being religious or not. Praying is praying. Real adults pray. Saying things that you are happy about. Things that you thought were just too complex. But then, something happened. Something changed. A miracle happened, and your complex matter was fixed. Praying is a part of being grateful in life. There are so many things that you are not aware of. Things that could change your life. Things that could harm you. Things that will make you lose your mind. But you turn out just fine. You turn out just fine not because you are indispensable. You turn out just fine because there is someone who cares about you. Someone that fights for you. Someone that drives the enemy away from your path. You enjoy safety not because you deserve it. You enjoy safety because someone else, roots for you. So, pray. Pray for everything you consider important.

Make prayer your way of appreciation. Make prayer a part of your routine. Include it in your everyday activities. Make prayer your thanksgiving moment. There are a lot of things that you need to be grateful for in life. Thank someone for making it possible for you. For defending you when someone wanted you down. Pray to acknowledge that whatever you are facing right now is complex but someone up there or down there can handle it for you. Speak your mind while praying. Say exactly what you are praying for. Specify the exact thing you are grateful for in life. Mention it in your prayer. Speak about your pain points, your aspirations, your desires, and dreams. Have focused-oriented prayer lifestyle. A lifestyle of being specific. A lifestyle of being clear. A lifestyle of being thankful. A lifestyle that teaches you to kneel down and pray.

Say Why You’re Grateful

Speak out the things you are grateful for in life. Mention all those things. Life is a long journey. A lot of things happen on this journey. So, mention things that stand out while on this journey. Speak of how these things make you feel. Things that you would like to be grateful for, makes you feel. Say why you are grateful. Say why you want to be grateful. Don’t just say you are grateful. Mention the things that you are grateful for in life. Mentioning those things, just as you count your blessings one by one, makes you even more grateful. You don’t take things for granted. You appreciate every milestone. You learn from every milestone. You become better with every new thing you encounter. You have a long journey. You need things that will keep your momentum up. You need excitements. You need motivation. Knowing what you are grateful for in life, could be the difference you need in this long journey of life.

You will have more reason to keep going in your life. You will have many reasons to be excited about being alive. Being grateful teaches you to acknowledge every little milestone you accomplish. Being grateful teaches your heart and mind to be alert. To live in the moment. To see life as it develops. To see the sweetness and bitterness of life. If, it happens that you only encounter bitter stuff in your life. Being grateful will remind you of the sweet things you once encountered. That memory will hit you differently. It will make you remember some things that you have forgotten. Knowing what to be grateful for, will make you aware. You will be alive in every event of your life. If, circumstances change and you get what you don’t like. Knowing that life serves both sweet and bitter will color your journey. You will be less stressed. You will shift your attention from mourning the bitter to appreciating evolutions in life. Be grateful. Life will be life. But you be the grateful person.           

          

 



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