The Anchoring Power of Gratitude

I feel like I’ve had a complete metamorphosis over the last nine months. It hasn’t been a breeze, there have been ups and many downs but the way I deal with those downs now, has shown me how much I have changed and grown.

I know for sure that gratitude has played a massive part in my reconstructed self. I have spent so much of my life feeling that happiness was on the other side of something. I never allowed myself to just appreciate what I had at that very moment, it was always dependent on achieving a goal, but when I had achieved that goal there was always something else. The goal posts were constantly moving away from me, so I never felt real contentment and satisfaction. 

One of those goals was moving to California. I’ll be happy when I move away to the sunshine, away from certain people that made me feel bad about myself. Then I moved and while I love it so much here, my first year here was tough in so many ways and my mental health was at its worst. You can be living in paradise but unless you are willing to change your mindset as well, paradise will never be enough to fix you or make you happy. You need to change the thoughts in your head. Stop the voices in your head that tell you you’re not good enough, not pretty enough, not clever enough, not thin enough, and the list goes on. That feeling that you are just never quite enough. Never giving yourself credit for the amazing qualities you have. The voice in your head is louder and more powerful than those around you and can drown out the kind words others say.  You can be your own worst enemy, but you also have the power to change that.   

Once I managed to change my mindset, change the narrative in my head and appreciate that I am enough, I started to open my eyes to all the things I should be grateful for right there in that moment. It’s great to have things to look forward to, but it is also crucial to be able to be grateful for everything you have right now. My family and friends, a roof over my head, food in abundance, the way it feels when my children hug me, the view of the trees outside my bedroom window when I wake up in the morning, the taste of that first cup of coffee, and the ability to get my feet in the sand whenever I need to. 

I am grateful. What I have is enough. I don’t need a single thing to make me happy because I already have so much. Anything else is a gift. Happiness is not on the other side of an achievement or a possession. Be grateful for all that you have, because happiness is right here, right now.