I was reading a thread (here: https://forum.emptyclosets.com/index.php?threads/moments-of-clarity-and-joy.462990/#post-6532924) and it struck me; Daily Gratitude. so i was thinking why not a thread, showing what we are grateful for. and that could change day to day or even hour to hour etc. if you feel grateful and wish to share, maybe inspire someone else, this is the place to do it. and i'll start; im grateful for my incredible son, grateful for finding Sarah inside of me, grateful for EC where we can share as a community, grateful that i have a roof over my head and food in the cupboard, and a winters worth of wood delivered this past weekend. and you, what are you grateful for.
Doesn’t seem like a practice that works if someone has nothing to be grateful for. Like, it only works when times are good
You still don't get how this board works. This is not a board for people to contradict and criticise eachother. Why do you open threads you're in total disagreement with?
I'm grateful for so many things, but today I especially want to say I'm grateful for the two new little boys in my life who are sweet and wonderful and beautiful, I'm grateful for the light they bring to mine and my daughter's life.
DAXIII - Then I'd say move on to another thread without spoiling this one for those who CAN find something to be grateful for.
I'm grateful that I'm alive, and grateful for the food i will eat, the bed that I'm lying on, the wifi connection that lets me go to this forum and just be myself. I'm grateful coz eventhough life may not be as easy right now as for I see with others, I know whatever hardship I'm going through will pass. And i'm grateful for you DAXIII coz your post made me write. Cheer up, everything happens for a reason. Things will be better
I've had some of the worst times imaginable being born disabled and having 10+ operations so I can walk, a heart defect that nearly killed me, Hydrophilis, being the kid who got beat up every week, beaten and left on the side of the road at midnight with 3 cracked ribs, having my heart stop for 4 minutes when i was 10, surviving an abusive marriage, a sick child, having my transition rejected by my parents, and now a bunch of health related problems on top of my transition. I'm alive, I can move forward or I can stay in the rough patches, I am grateful that I can move forward, ever forward as a martial arts instructor taught me.
I am grateful for ECs for it has been a key component in me finding me. Finding my second me, the 15 year old me who lives in the current me. He's starting to come out, telling me in a faint timid voice things that happened to him. Terrible things. Things that make the current me cold and numb. I am grateful for now I can cognitively understand lyrics in rock music. Hear words of love and feelings. It's mind blowing.
Not to sound insensitive but I am curious as to why? There are tough patches and there is all that. And if someone who has been through that can be greatful but someone who hasn’t has nothing to be grateful for, then what hope is there for them? It’s somewhat like celebrities who have everything but are miserable. Or the quiet ones who end up killing themselves despite “having everything”. It just makes me wonder, is it enough?
I don’t think so. I think it shows that even with all our desires met, we can still be miserable. Or those people who seemed to have a good life (friends, loving home, pretty much on track) and they still commit suicide. It’s far too simple to just apply gratitude.
My argument would be if we are miserable then not all of our desires are met. Unless of course they have some sort of mental illness which is something different altogether.
Perhaps they feel empty in some sense, but aren't sure what's missing? Lots of us on here have been mistaken about what we want. When you say 'seemed to have a good life', you're looking at something from the outside. It's hard to know what's really going on. My relationship and family life looks great from the outside, but it's not in reality. My partner and I spend hours alone not talking. People put on appearances.
That’s kind of what I’m getting at. When people appear to have a lot to be greatful for and then they end up splattered on the wall. It doesn’t make sense. Or how those who have suffered can be grateful and yet those who haven’t have nothing to be grateful for.
But you can't go on appearances because how things look from the outside isn't always the truth. Everyone is different. Some see the glass half full others half empty but potentially it has the same amount in it. I think we can try and help ourselves be more optimistic then pessimistic but everyone's mind works differently and sees things differently. We all want and need different things, it is more complicated than looking at wealth and material possessions. What would satisfy one, does nothing for another.
Perhaps the more hardship people have suffered the more they appreciate what they have, whereas people who haven't faced great hardship don't necessarily appreciate the things they do have, because they take them for granted - is that sort of what you mean? It's depends massively on personal experience and perspective. For example, I live a fairly comfortable life and I'm sure there are people who think me stupid for giving that up on the chance that I'm happier with a woman.
I am grateful for my healthy, loving son. I am grateful for my genuine loving BF. I am grateful that I came out before it was too late. I am grateful that I've rebooted my life so that I devote attention to the right things.
I am just getting ready to go for a walk around my new town and I realized I am grateful for too many things to name. So for this moment, I am grateful to have reached this point in my life and still be able to smile even though there is darkness. Now, I am going to go enjoy the beautiful fall weather and just take a walk to clear my head once more.
start with little things, i had salmon for supper tonight, i seared it as close to perfect as ive done in awhile. im grateful that i know how to cook. my arm hurts tonight, im grateful that i have a brace i can wear to take most of the pain away, little things. i've also seen the results of being the opposite because i was there, my ex was/is there, i find it better to look up than down, to be grateful rather than the miserable person i was.