![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmUpCwuo4bBexSeSDEWCy6qWCBfJD9L9xbyuCreRu7gWfk/image.png) It is maddening to be reminded to appreciate what we tend to have: for somebody to inform us we shouldn’t forget to be grateful. It’s in conflict with our times, and their emphasis on constant ambition and striving. ![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmP5PXPmkRcdMeUALcN1VG76KP8S5GmQUsPLY62u1vFApb/image.png) The concept of pausing to take stock of what has gone well, to be content with several things as they are - this feels strange and dangerous, like some kind of a loser’s counsel – or the consolation prize. THE REALITY We are ungrateful partly out of a concern; a fear of accepting what we have – as if to pause to appreciate things as they are would possibly make us ‘soft’, complacent, without the will-power to take on new challenges. ![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmWSKW82XREe8XJtN2rRRupcSpdhmAcyFM32NqqxebWj7f/image.png) Anxiety feels so much more natural. It’s been with us from the start. But ultimately, it's not heroic or sensible forever to be dissatisfied; relentlessly to specialize in everything that's gone wrong and to obsess about our humiliations and rejections. ![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmaWvfmTnJFNN75UJNWWtD7jL4kG7eehrrfwLv4rgaHYAT/image.png) There is in truth far more courage and skill in being able to identify a hopeful perspective: in knowing the way to train and keep our eyes on what’s been - more or less - OK. HOW TO BE MORE GRATEFUL? What can best help us during this is - oddly - is the thought of our own **death**: how soon and how unexpectedly it may come, and the way much we'll miss about life once it does. There is so much that, if we learned we might be dead by nightfall, we would promptly keep in mind to value: ![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmNXfZaPkfZ6c1MuPsgdGEUr7EmQ1bn1ccGvf5qp81ZoDt/image.png) > **The Summer Night Sky** that is very lovely to behold. ![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmWxvwAT7KP2dFAAfQndkCAeEh3hcsGS8r4Wn8jSYnWmRj/image.png) > **The Taste of Cold Milk** made by our lovely mother for us to drink. ![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmY87nQ2qMdHXfkYtM6tuzCRqWHGKDQSwEEUEZLuxU1snJ/image.png) > **Steemit itself** that helped us not just to earn money but to know ourselves even better. ![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmWkg4YerkDgoCQzYuRBEfwFZrEvsZsG8yX1odQXpbSiaF/image.png) > **The People** who made us smile, family & friends. ![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZeKHyBVRPuQxVVNJVjbwTk9rqH8muFKXnt88z1k1Lemd/image.png) > **The Presence of our Partners** beside us in the stillness of the world. We are constantly undermined by our failure to retain the purity and drama of this helpfully morbid insight – which should strike us once daily at least and to put it to powerful use within the ordinary course of life. Be grateful for what you have. ![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmUC3aW1PjBsCJDGe9S3vY6mvzAjrzLkPabAmEsVHKEM6o/image.png) Gratitude is the dividend due to us when, for a few moments, we start to assess our lives with a truer sense of all our small but significant advantages - and with a frank, humble recognition of all we have to lose - and in some unspecified time in the future will. Anytime, anywhere, with anyone, we could lose our life at once. While we still have our time, we should remember that there are many reasons to be grateful. Be grateful as you are, as a blogger, as an individual.

![](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmXuyVfzjnNM6AYbvCDifiCnn8UdjdWa3gF1sh8ufJ3zAx/image.png) _{References School Of Life} _{The thumbnail and the footer was edited through canva.com. The rest of the photos were taken from pixabay.com}

_{Greetings from,
@carlitojoshua}