Can ALWAYS be grateful.

Do you ever stop to think about how cool it is that we have the potential to strengthen our mind and body no matter what tore us down in our past? How we have the ability to build strength and carry more weight, mentally and physically. 


How someone can go through 20+ years crippled by an addiction and one day start a completely new life. Celebrating years of sobriety and renewed health and hope. How someone else could survive a horrific accident and through physical and cognitive therapy, restore their muscles and transform, if not enlighten, their mentality on living. 


I lived 15 years of my life suicidal and obese. My attitude was that nothing would ever change. I thought my only way out was death. But as soon as I had the freedom and realization I could live the life I wanted for myself, transformation of my mind, body and soul was the fun part. 


I literally watched my body transform as I added more activity, weights, and healthy foods into my lifestyle. With consistency, commitment and determination, I watched as I could do more, lift more, and feel stronger each and every day. 


Just as I choose what exercise and eating habits I participate in, I also choose what nurtures my mind and soul. What type of media I digest and what kinds of people I surround myself with. My openness to learn and my willingness to educate myself. The power to feel and do good is in my control and as soon as I grabbed on, I lifted off. 


Psychologists David Lykken and Auke Tellegen estimate a person’s well-being is between 44 percent and 52 percent genetically composed. While basically half of our “set point” well-being is based on genetics alone, before even factoring in circumstance, it’s easy to feel discouraged and stuck in a place of discontent. But according to many philosophers, satisfaction is what we have divided by what we want. As the Dalai Lama stated, “We need to learn how to want what we have, not to have what we want, in order to get steady and stable happiness.” 


As I’ve grown up and met many different people from many different backgrounds, I have listened to stories that punch my gut and break my heart. Stories of abuse and neglect, people who have experienced accidents leaving them paralyzed or otherwise disabled, people without support systems and lacking the skills and motivation to turn their lives around. Circumstances that could easily hinder a person’s ability to see a successful life for themselves. 


Feeling grateful is something each and every one of us can attach to. There is always something, whether it be the sun shining through the sky, a cup of coffee in the morning, the way a certain song can make us feel, that we can find beauty in. If we’re stuck comparing ourselves to others and what they have, we will never be truly satisfied. However, if we take advantage of our power, our choice in what we focus on, who we surround ourselves with, our purpose and our faith, we have an equation to live a fulfilling and progressive life. A life with no limits on the satisfaction we can achieve. 


The thing that keeps me most excited about life, pushing me forward through all the challenges and hardships, is my confidence in my ability to grow. Gaining strength and expanding my mind is an ability I’m grateful to be in tune with. If I’m going to be searching for more, it will be more lessons, more strength and more success. Redefining my definition of success to align with goals that are within my control. How I respond to adversity, and how I thrive from opportunity. Welcoming change, adaptation and adjustments, but leaving behind expectations. Healing from acceptance and strengthening through my commitment to myself balanced by soaking in those morning coffees. Belting out the song that pumps energy into my soul. Because while I have the opportunity to be better each day, I also have the opportunity to see all that exists right now.