It Is OKAY To Not Be Grateful

I hold this truth to be self-evident:

When we reside in a place of gratitude, the world changes.

“The root of joy is gratefulness…

It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.” – David Steindl-Rast

I believe gratitude is a key ingredient to emotional and spiritual health & wellness. Gratitude is the cornerstone for a healthy mind, body, heart, and soul.

Yes, there is a but coming…

But it is okay to not be grateful.

Wait… what? You tout gratitude as the best thing since Betty White, orcas, and a 33% lighter figure skating blade… and now you’re reneging? WTH?

Yes, it is okay to not be grateful – sometimes.

Focusing on the positive, coming from a place of gratitude, focusing on opportunities for growth, finding the silver lining, if you will, are wonderful traits. These are powerful lessons. I contend the aforementioned lay the path to a life well lived.

However, there are times when negative emotions can get the better of us: and maybe we can be comfortable letting them. I tout gratitude, but not as a method to stuff down “negative” emotions or as a weapon against “negative” feelings.

You are entitled to your feelings. You have a right to your feelings.

Living under a self-imposed mandate of “I should feel this way,” or “I shouldn’t feel that way,” may actually be a recipe for inauthenticity.

It is okay to feel and express anger, to get pissed, to rage, to rally. It is okay to shout a battle cry of condemnation against what you perceive has wronged you.

Sweeping everything under the rug is not a solution. Do not silence your emotions on the altar of forced-gratitude or an insincere-focus on positivity. Even when your emotions are ungrateful, thankless, unappreciative – let it out.

Caveat: See It Is Okay to Lose Your Shit. “Take heed: it is not okay to lose your shit on another human. It is, however, okay to feel what is real, to release, to have a bad day, or week, or month. It is okay to throw your hands up and lose it.”

There is another but coming…

But for the love of all things great: DO NOT PIDDLE ON THE PITY POTTY.

Leave the laments once you’ve expressed yourself. Let it out, then Move the Fu*ck On.

Return back to a place of gratitude. Return back to your core, your heart and soul, back to your true nature.

Give thanks for the lesson, even if it was anger, be grateful for what it taught you. Maybe you learned something about life, yourself, perhaps about another person.

It is okay to not be grateful – sometimes.

But then suck in a deep breath, embrace the power you have to choose your reactions, remember who you are and who you want to be. Then find that place inside of you that is grateful for the opportunities for growth inherent in disappointments, frustrations, in pain, hurt, and anger. Embody the Alchemist inside of you who transmutes the bad into good, the negatives into positives, the sh*it into gold.