Stride In Your Shine

By Daria Campbell

Yes, the world is getting dark and scary but let me ask you this? What light are you bringing?  Are you just wringing your hands in worry and shutting down? Or are you appreciating every day you are given?  Do you wake up with a grateful heart?  I mean you woke up!! That is the first thing to be grateful for.

I have never seen so many Gratitude Journals on the market as I do now. People are trying to remind you to remember that you have a lot to be grateful for. But it is more than that it is not just an attitude it is a skill.

Here is an exercise for you:  Just take any piece of paper (you do not have to invest in a fancy journal) and write out 20 things you are grateful for right now. You can start with anything you like but start.  Sometimes when I am down, I start with simple things like I can breathe. This is something we take for granted but to the person who needs a machine to help them do so, do not.  I can use my legs. Again, someone out there has lost a limb or is in a wheelchair. They do not have the luxury to say that statement, but you may, so you should.

Once you start writing out the seemingly small things the big things come. Then with repetition you start to subconsciously walk in gratitude. You will find yourself grateful for the oddest things like the uber driver returning your phone to the police station when you left it on his backseat late one Friday night. Or that you found you miscalculated your budget this week and you have extra money to spend. It could be anything and everything if you want it to be.

There is an old book/movie called Pollyanna.  Pollyanna’s father taught her the Glad Game. She would find a reason to be glad in EVERY situation. No matter what. And that attitude rubbed off on all the people around her. Sure, you can argue that she was a child, but she was actually just wise, and age has nothing to do with it. And in these dark times lets remember Anne Frank. Her diary revolutionized the world. And what about Helen Keller. Come on people! I can do this all day!

Or you can complain and whine about everything which makes you, oh so fun to be around. We all know the world is not what it should be but being grateful and strong and brave in your day to day walk won’t it be brighter?  Stride in your Shine or Shine in your Stride. Keep looking up and be confident that with a grateful heart the world is not as horrible as it seems to be because it does not change the fact that you are just grateful.