Not too far away is a woman sleeping under a bridge. A family whose baby girl is fighting leukemia. A man who had his leg amputated after stepping on a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. People in Haiti still living in tents, five years after the earthquake. A Connecticut woman whose face and hands were mutilated by a chimpanzee.
Point being, is that there is always someone out there who is worse off than we are. That doesn’t meant that our problems should be viewed as minimal or of lesser value than others, but we should be grateful that our situations are not worse. Fact is, they could be.
We all go through difficult times, whether they be financial, physical or mental. Those moments in our lives can weigh us down. Sometimes so heavily, that we don’t know how much longer we can continue to carry on.
It is easy during those times to focus on the negative aspects of the situation. They surround us, taking over our lives, consuming our thoughts…
Because we let them.
What we fail to see, is that mixed in with all the bad is something good. Do you have a broken leg? You could have no leg at all. Are you eating rice and beans everyday? You could be eating out of the dumpster. Do you have a home? Are you breathing? Can a lesson be learned from the situation?
Instead of spending all of our energy looking at the negative side of things, we should focus on the positive. Doing so may not change the outcome of our situation, but it will certainly make the process easier.
We can either allow difficult times to knock us down and destroy us, or we can get up, dust ourselves off and live anyway.
Me - Who am I? 
Happiness doesn’t come from having everything, but by being grateful for all that we have.
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Exactly. I wholeheartedly believe that.
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I agree that things could be worse but that doesn’t make it any easier on the people fighting depression and all those voices telling them to end it.
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You’re right,. Their problems are just as serious and ones they have to face everyday. But, that doesn’t mean that they have to give up. It just means that they might have to push themselves a little harder than the rest. Life is worth living. no matter what we go through.
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I so totally agree with you!
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Glad you agree! 🙂
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Reblogged this on A Momma's View and commented:
What a deep message. I agree totally. Things could always be worse and it is all about putting them into perspectives. I also believe that things happen for a reason. They’re there to make us realise something and hopefully move on from where we are to a better place…
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Thank you so much for the reblog. I am in total agreement. How we manage a situation is based off of how we see it. It can be bad, but we can make it so much worse by focusing on the negative. It could be worse, and in every situation there is something to be learned – if we take the time to see it.
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Indeed.
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This is amazing.
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Thank you, and thank you for reading.
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We can always find something to grouse about! But to have a grateful heart needs to become a goal. As we look around, there is always something we can be grateful for. Thanks for reminding us!
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You are right about that! There is always something to complain about, but why spend (waste) our time on that when there is so much more that we could be grateful for? Thank you for your wonderful comment.
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A very good message!
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Thank you!
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Amen! It’s not easy, but our happiness is up to us, and only we are responsible for it!
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You are absolutely right. It’s our story. We can make it what we want.
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It is something to be aware of. Yes things are difficult, and yes things can be worse. But even in difficult times there are things to be grateful for. And I try to make sure to end my days saying thank you. And to hope that those needing more help than I, get it as well.
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That’s a great way to end a day. Our lives are so much better and more complete when we’re grateful, even in the hard times.
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I find myself being astonished at the number of people who actually think that life is meant to be fair, that they, in particular deserve something better because they are who they are. Mind you, I’m not angry with them, although I’d like to shake a few until the piece fall into place inside their brains. I do pity them. No, it’s not sympathy. It’s pity that I feel. Their general attitude is ruining their lives. And the chances of any of them noticing good when it comes their way is nil. Their lives are a waste. Very sad, indeed.
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I’ve met a few people like that myself. Reminds me of what my parents used to say, “Well, life’s not always fair.” It’s not, and we shouldn’t expect the road to be easy. But we can certainly make it easier by staying positive…or at least by trying to.
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I thought I saw a post of yours, I had to dig through the reader.
You kind of know how I feel about this subject. One thing I have noticed as I become more aware, positive, not-depressed–I can see that the more I stayed focused on the predicament of my mind state, the more hope I lost. All the positive affirmations I said, all the choices I tried to make, all the things I am grateful for just didn’t matter because I didn’t matter. I felt absolutely nothing and was willing to do whatever it took to escape it. The pain didn’t last for a day or two, it was years.
It’s a scary and painful place to be and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, nor do I believe a depressed person is able to make any choices unless they seek professional help. Not one time did I feel that life was fair or unfair. I felt nothing. My mind had a hard time dealing with major things happening one right after another, but logically I knew that’s life. I was grateful for all that I have and I repeated it over and over hoping that it would give me hope. None of that mattered until the help I received from professionals led me to a place where I can work toward the positive side.
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I probably should have added a side note excluding those with depression. But, even you mentioned that staying focused on your state of mind caused you to lose more hope. We have a way of drowning ourselves.
A person may not be able to ‘cure’ their depression, but I do feel (and I could be wrong) that their behavior and attitude can make a difference, even if it’s a small one. This post was meant more I suppose, for those who just go through hard times. We all do that.
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Yes, I’ve talked to my therapist about how self-centered depression appears to me. I have been formulating a blog post and want to word it in a way that encourages others to take one little step to seek professional help and move toward a more healthy way of thinking. That step is hard, but if we continue to keep moving, it does become more manageable and is easier to catch negative thoughts which bring everybody down–whether depressed or just having a rotten time. It’s just that the depressed don’t recognize that what they are doing is really adding to the angst.
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That makes sense. When a person is consumed by so much darkness it’s hard to see anything else. Seeking professional help may be the exact answer that some people need. I look forward to reading that post of yours.
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You’re singing from my songbook there. There is always something to be grateful for. 🙂
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There sure is. Always! 🙂
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