The tenth item on the Freedom Guide, is to practice thankfulness. Consciously look for things to be grateful for, and look for all the good you can find.
This is a very powerful tool. Part of the enemy’s ploy for defeating you is to make the negative things around you seem larger than they are, or to keep you focused on them so that you miss all of the good that is around. Thankfulness helps you to learn to look for and find the positive things that are happening.
Obviously, there are truly bad things that happen from time to time. And I am not recommending or suggesting being in denial. There are those who teach that if you make any acknowledgement of negative things, then you are giving them access to your life. I am not one who holds to that exact view. Our words do have power, and should be used with care, but there seems to be a near superstition that results when we go to extremes with this.
For an example of thankfulness, if I have a large amount of money stolen from me, I can either choose to focus on the theft of the money, or I can choose to be thankful that I still have a roof over my head, and food to eat. I’m not in denial that the lost money would have been helpful to have, but my focus is on moving forward despite the loss.
Another way to make thankfulness a habit, is to review your day every evening, and take note of the positive things that happened. Large and small, every single thing. Some people take the most significant item of each day, and write it on a piece of paper and put it into a jar or box. They then periodically review these.
Teaching ourselves to look for the good, is an excellent coping strategy. Even during very dark times, the darkness will not overwhelm us because we can still see the light.
What is your favorite way to practice thankfulness?
If you would like more information on this and the rest of the items on the Freedom Guide, I expanded this content into a book and workbook that you can purchase from me in the office, at my online shop or other retailers here.