Do You Know How Lucky You Are?

Sometimes when the caca hits the fan it’s hard to think about how lucky we are. Hey, I’ve been there. Sad children, sickness, divorce, unemployment, any of life’s challenges can make you feel lower than the belly of a snake. But focusing on what’s not working in our lives won’t get us to a better place.

If you want to see how lucky you are, start counting your blessings. Sure, you may not have as much money as you wish you did to take the kids on vacation, but you have those beautiful children. And maybe you wish you didn’t have to spend so much money on groceries, but you’re eating, which is better than a lot of other folks around the world. A mortgage payment, as hefty as it may be, means you have a home of your own. A truck payment means you have a way to get around. And all that money you can’t spend because you have to save, means options to deal with life’s emergencies and, ultimately, retirement.

There will always be times when you get frustrated, even angry at your circumstances. Psychologists now know that our brains are wired to respond and remember negatives more strongly than positives. That’s what stopped us from being annihilated as we were evolving.

According to Jonathan Haidt, a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia, and author of The Happiness Hypothesis, “bad is stronger than good” is an important principle of design by evolution. “Responses to threats and unpleasantness are faster, stronger, and harder to inhibit than responses to opportunities and pleasures.”

If you want to be happy, you have to work at giving equal time to the good stuff in your life. There are sunny days and rainy days both. The trick is to remember that even when it is pouring with rain, you are blessed so count ‘em. As good old Dr. Seuss said:

“When you think things are bad,
when you feel sour and blue,
when you start to get mad…
You should do what I do!
Just tell yourself, Duckie, you’re really quite lucky!”

If you find it hard to remember just how lucky you are, it’s time to start a gratitude journal and write down the tings you’re grateful for at least once a week.  Studies show that people who keep gratitude journals are more optimistic as a whole than those who focus on the potholes in their lives.

Counting your blessings before you fall asleep or when you first wake up in the morning is another way to focus on how lucky you are. What better way to pull positive energy into your life than saying thank you for the gifts you’ve been given.