Have you ever taken a moment to sit down and give thanks? Do you think it’s by your own will and might that you’re still here breathing? Are you feeling a bit overwhelmed? Well, take a deep breath and just say, ‘Thank You’.

Since the beginning of last year, there has been a series of lockdowns, deaths (even not related to Covid-19) and not to mention a decline in most country’s economic sectors.

But you still stand a victor, able to do what you used to do even though there is now a different setting to the way our lives are right now. It is important to be grateful, to give thanks to the higher power you believe in.

‘Gratitude turns what we have into enough’- Anonymous

The year 2021 for my family started with bad news, my uncle getting beat up by armed robbers with his wife and family. In February my cousin got into a terrible accident, we thought surely this is the end for him, this is the last time we’ll ever talk to him again. He’s alive and well but we could have lost a family member and a young one at that. It’s funny how tragedies show us how lucky we are to be alive and to have people around us that care for us.

        Gratitude is a powerful catalyst to happiness.

I always look back at how I started, how I was always scared to put myself out there and make new friends. I can only be thankful for the progress I have made in life because that way if I’m happy with my successes then I can have the will and power to do more for myself. It’s simple, what are you thankful for? Are you in that season you always wished you were in? Then why not be happy with gratitude for it wasn’t an easy road or easy challenge to tackle.

I don’t usually listen to Ariana Grande but her song Thank you, next definitely resonates with most of us and our past relationships. Even though this song is specific to her, we all have people that have taught us, love, pain, or selflessness. It is from these relationships that we have become better people and why not thank you, next. Next, because we can’t dwell in the past, try and fix things but instead be grateful for the life lessons. Weirdly, the song inspired this post, I mean when it’s something like maybe a song by Celine Dion or Maverick City, which would’ve done the trick, but this song once listened to attentively brings out the beauty of relationships and how they play a great role in teaching us valuable life lessons.

One taught me, love

One taught me patience

And one taught me pain

Now, I’m so amazing.

-Ariana Grande

Be grateful now you are so amazing, now you are a different version of yourself. We tend to focus on things that aren’t necessarily important, so why not take that experience into a life lesson and be grateful. Maybe you are in a situation where it’s gloomy and you’re wondering why you should be grateful and happy when your life is currently in turmoil. It becomes easy with consistency.

Have happy thoughts always, especially as you start your day.

1. Write down your achievements
2. Always update your list of the things you are grateful for.
3. Smile. Be happy and don’t forget to say thank you.

A grateful heart is a joyful heart.

Let us be grateful always. In the past and present, a lot of families have been disrupted, jobs were lost and the new normal forcibly became our way of life. We are still breathing, we have another day to make things happen. We still have a chance to live and fulfill our dreams. Why not take the time to be grateful?