Living a Grateful Life: The Importance of Remaining Thankful

As I look around the world today, I see a lot of things. I know that over the last two years the world has experienced great change and transformation. While I am not being insensitive to the plethora of challenges that we have all endured, I have also examined the profound sense of pessimism and hopelessness that I see in the world today. I am an optimist and I always have been. I choose to see the good in everything and I choose to count my blessings instead of complaining about the battles and challenges that arise in my life. Ultimately, I have learned the power of gratitude and it has made all the difference in my life. As we head into this holiday season, I want you to remember the importance of living a grateful life. Trials and tribulations will always come your way. However, you can always choose to be thankful.

1. No one is exempt from challenges. While it is easy to look at some people and assume that they never go through anything, this is simply an assumption and in no way accurate. The reality is that we all go through challenges and no one is exempt from challenges. Since no one is exempt from challenges, then it behooves you to become skilled in navigating the challenges of life. In other words, you have to understand that adversity is part of the journey and how you handle it will determine the success or failure of your life. You cannot escape challenges but you can be empowered to overcome challenges in life. It will require you to shift your paradigm, adjust your attitude, and change your perspective. You have to stop cursing challenges and start to see them as a blessing in your life.
2. You have to see challenges as a blessing. Now I know that this is not going to sit well with everyone. After all, we live in a culture and a society that tells us to stay positive, think positive thoughts, and drain our lives of all toxicity. While this sounds good, the reality is that you are going to encounter difficult times in life. It does not matter how many positive thoughts you think or how many positive affirmations you speak over your life. You are going to hit moments of turbulence and uncertainty. In those moments, your true character will be revealed and your greatest learning will occur. Cycles will never be broken in your life until you can learn to see challenges as a blessing. No, I am not telling you that everything will feel good but I am telling you that it can work together for your good. Essentially, what you think is sent into your life to destroy you can actually be engineered for a defining moment in your life. Your ability to see challenges as a blessing will cause you to develop a rock-solid faith and a bulletproof mindset. It will give you the ability to resize your experiences and revolutionize your existence. You will discover that you are not powerless and there is no such thing as a hopeless situation.
3. Challenges show us all the value of adversity. If you have read my books or followed my work, then you know that my uncommon paradigm is what has earned me the respect of people all around the world. As a highly respected thought leader, I have empowered people around the globe to shift their paradigms, reclaim their personal power, and transform the trajectory of their lives. How have I been able to do this? I have done this by challenging the way that people think. Most people view adversity through the lens of toxicity and pessimism. However, I see adversity as the catalyst to advancement and victory. You will never elevate your life until you learn the value of adversity. Your greatest growth will happen in seasons of adversity. Furthermore, it is impossible to develop without adversity. You need obstacles, opposition, and opposing forces in order to develop your potential and to expand your capacity. The value of adversity is that it empowers you to unleash your greatest potential. Your context of adversity will determine your conquering and advancement.
4. You have to live a grateful life. For the sake of time, I am going to be brief. However, gratitude is my favorite subject in the entire world. Many people look at my life today and marvel. However, they do not understand my journey. They see my victories but they do not know about my battle scars. No matter how much I try to share from my journey to success, I have discovered that there is always a nucleus of people that think that success is overnight. I can promise you that my success story has taken over three decades to write. While many people see success, awards, and achievements today, they do not see the years of struggle, frustration, failure, and defeat that have all helped build me into the person that I am today. Why is gratitude so important to me? When all I had was a dream in my heart and faith in a reality that was not yet born to time, it was gratitude that carried me through the darkest days and seasons of my life. Gratitude empowers us to understand that you may not have everything that you want but you can be grateful that you have everything you need. Gratitude is having the ability to see the good in everything. Gratitude sees supply where others see scarcity, an opportunity where others see opposition, and possibilities where others only see problems. Gratitude is not limited to a day or a season in your life. Gratitude is a lifestyle that characterizes the life of the individual that never forgets where they come from and the journey that it has taken to get there. Gratitude breaks possibility blindness off of your life allowing you to see how truly blessed you are.