It’s easy to take things for granted; that’s how the mind works. Once a need is met, focusing on the next objective is natural. Plus, with all the current focus on politics and wars, we are constantly bombarded with negativity. This combined with personal challenges and struggles, makes it easy to lose sight of everything for which to be grateful.
It’s easier to maintain good mental health when we balance the reality of an imperfect world with what is good and right in our lives.
Good mental health means a person is productive, rational, has a positive self-esteem, practices good self-care, and contributes positively to others. Additionally, they are grateful for the ability to exercise these attributes and don’t take their mental health for granted.
Gratitude makes people happier because it encourages them to focus on what they have instead of what they lack. It also helps them balance the plusses against the minuses in their lives and avoid getting buried under the muck of life.
Gratitude embraces the simple pleasures in life, such as fresh air, natural beauty, and freedom. When one feels grateful, others can’t trample on one’s parade.
Grateful people don’t feel entitled; they appreciate those who have blessed them with the gifts or opportunities graciously bestowed upon them.
Grateful people are a pleasure to be around because they emit positive energy and look for the good in life instead of the bad. When something goes wrong, they implement a solution so the bad doesn’t overshadow their life.
Gratitude doesn’t mean tolerating unacceptable behaviors or situations with fake positivity. Instead, we express gratitude for our choices, including the option to avoid toxic people, places, and things.
Good mental health and gratitude are deeply wedded. It’s virtually impossible to remain depressed or anxious when feeling grateful. The mentally healthy person is thankful to be human and embraces all their emotions including sorrow and grief. Even challenges can be met with gratitude when approached as opportunities for healing and growth.
Being grateful is more a decision than a feeling. We may not have been promised a “rose garden,” but we often live in one and don’t realize how blessed we are. The gift of life, especially in prosperous countries like America, with all its opportunities, is not a blessing to be taken lightly.
Being grateful means choosing love over fear. Since love is what we truly are, why not sprinkle our lives with a little more gratitude. We’ve all heard the expression that it’s better to turn lemons into lemonade. Which one do we want? A pucker or a smile? Mentally healthy people will search for the sweetened every time.
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Donna Marks is an educator, licensed psychotherapist, and addictions counselor in Palm Beach, Florida. She has worked with over 6,000 clients. Donna’s struggle with addiction brought her to a worldwide search for healing. She became licensed as a Mental Health Counselor in 1987. In 1989, she earned a Doctorate Degree in Adult Education, then became Certified in Addictions, Gestalt Therapy, Psychoanalysis, Hypnosis, and Sex Therapy. Donna developed an award-winning addiction training program at Palm Beach Community College. She co-owns an outpatient treatment program and serves as a consultant to treatment centers. For 36 years, she has taught A Course in Miracles.
Donna is the author of three books: the multi-award-winning title Exit the Maze: One Addiction, One Cause, One Cure, and Learn, Grow, Forgive: A Path to Spiritual Success, The Healing Moment: Seven Paths to Turn Messes into Miracles of Love, and her latest fiction, Fortis & Sapiente – A Tale of Two Lovers Who Successfully Navigate the Murky Waters of Love. Donna is a public speaker and has shared her methods with millions of listeners on podcasts and radio shows.
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