Many of us have been in low places before. A place of lack, loss, and brokenness. Maybe you were fired. Maybe you became ill. Maybe there was an accident or incident. Who knows? Well, you do. Now that I am thinking about it. Life can be like a roller coaster with its ups and downs, twists and turns. But what does gratitude have to do with it?

It’s easy to be grateful when things are going well and we are riding high. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, we have great skin and all is right in your world. We are so grateful. But then come the lows, the valleys. Now what? Be grateful? How can we be grateful during sorrow and sadness? How can we be grateful when we have very little to be grateful for? Or so it may seem.

Gratitude in times of very little helps bring in more of what you have. It helps you to feel more positive emotions and the better you feel the better it is for your mental and physical health. Gratitude can help you to deal with adversity. It also helps you to build strong relationships. In this case, when you have very little, just being grateful for what you do have helps you to feel better. And remember what I said about feeling better. If you feel better, you can THINK clearer (mental health) and you will feel better (physical health). It’s hard to think of solutions when your mind is clouded with what you lack, how you should have done “this or that”, and thoughts of how bad of a person, parent, you are. It’s difficult to think straight when you mind is filled with fearful thoughts and thoughts of blame. It’s everyone’s fault but yours or including you. How is any of this helpful?

Gratitude helps get you to a place where you can THINK of solutions. It also brings in more of what you have and what you need. So, if I am grateful for the food we have, more food comes to me and better solutions of how to obtain the food I may need comes to me. Your mental well-being impacts your health. If I am only focusing on the negative things in my life, that builds anger, depression, anxiety, and this leads to strokes, heart attacks, diabetes, and more. My Rheumatologist told me he was doing all he could do for me but, my mental health was impacting my inflammation markers and I needed to see a therapist. You see the correlation there.

Absolutely, feel your feelings. Feel your emotions but don’t dwell there forever in your head and in your feelings. I wasn’t just sad about having Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was distraught. I was depressed. I was anxious. What was so good about having it? What was there to be grateful for? This “thing” had impacted my entire life. I still can’t tell you what is good about it. But that has nothing to do with me being grateful for the life I still have with it. I am grateful and more appreciative of the time I have each day. The more I appreciate the life I have the more I enjoy life in spite of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

~Nikki