The Importance Of Being Grateful (Someone Else Always Has It Worse).

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Believe me, I get it. I know all too well about complaining when things in my life aren't going the way I'd like. In fact, I think it is quite rare to encounter a person during these times that we're living in that never complains about the issues in their life on occasion. As with nearly everything in this life that has variance in how little or much something may be, the habit of complaining to others about our problems is another one of those things. We may all complain at times throughout our lives, but some of us do it more than others. Since we all complain at times, the degree as to which we as people complain really doesn't matter as much, and that isn't the primary focus where I'm trying to go this week. While there may be a degree of normality when it comes to complaining, something that most of us forget is a word that is something that we should express on a daily basis; gratitude. For many of us, it seems that whenever we're dealing with various issues in our lives that we often forget the importance of expressing gratitude. Again, I believe this is quite normal, and it is very difficult for most of us to focus on the positive whenever we're facing a dark moment(s) in our minds. By now, I think most of us know and understand that complaining without any action behind it is pretty pointless. Now I'll concede that there are times when we just want to vent to others. However, I do believe there is a fundamental difference between complaining and venting. That may be a topic for another day though. The primary purpose of the topic for this week is to bring light to why it is of importance to express gratitude. There can be many reasons why being grateful is important, but one of the key things that we often forget about whenever we're complaining is that while things may be bad and not going your way in this life, there is someone else out there always has it worse than we do.

Hey, what is going on everyone out there? It is I, Brad H. back once again, and welcome to another fresh off the take edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! We are back in the mix for another installment of information and insight that will hopefully encourage and inspire us to strive to become better versions of ourselves. Hopefully all has been good and well for you all that are taking out a few minutes to check out what my thoughts are. So for my soapbox this week, I'm going to give a little tribute to the "Queen of Soul", Aretha Franklin. I'm sure that most of you know by now that she departed this world on August 16, 2018. Now I'm not going to get on here and portray that I was the biggest fan of hers or anything like that. Quite frankly, a good portion of her music was way before my time. However, I do feel that the music and entertainment industry suffered a huge loss with her passing. I think that most of us can agree that she was among the musical giants that have been a part of American music. One of her most popular songs that mostly everyone has listened, or even if you haven't heard it you have more than likely heard some say the letters; R-E-S-P-E-C-T, to spell "Respect". My personal favorite from her was the 1985 song she had called "Freeway of Love." I remember hearing that song as a kid, and the uptempo pace of it really appealed to me. I recall seeing a few days before her passing that she wasn't doing well, so I hope that her transition from this life was a peaceful one. My condolences go out to her family and everyone who is directly affected by her passing. One of the great things about people that are extremely gifted and talented at a craft is that we can always listen to or watch them even when they're no longer here. She has given this world so much music over her lifetime, so in a way she continues to live on. If you have a favorite song by Aretha Franklin, please feel free to leave that below. Well now that I've talked about that, it is time to go ahead and get into this week's topic of the importance of being grateful.

Before we talk more on the topic at hand for this installment, I'm going to go ahead and give the regular disclaimer that I always give before putting my thoughts out there. Since we're all unique individuals in our own right, it is unrealistic to believe that we're all going to think the same way. The object here isn't to focus on what is considered right or wrong, nor do I want others to cosign with everything that I address here. The objective is to hopefully inspire other people, and through that inspiration, to hopefully allow this to serve as a catalyst that will inspire us to see things in a manner in which we may not have before. I'd like to think of this as an outlet that helps us to learn from one another. Believe me, some of the comments and feedback that I've received have definitely helped open my eyes to things that I never thought of, and I hope that my words are able to do the same for others as well. Of course I don't expect everyone to agree with me, and even if you do not share in my beliefs and sentiments in regards to this or any of the other topics that I have covered, I still appreciate every single person that has dropped by. So how did I arrive at the topic of being grateful for this installment? Well, the practice of gratitude is something that I aim to do on a regular basis. However, like so many of us that manage to allow the issues that pop up in our lives to affect our judgement and how we view things, I do fall short at times. But with that being said, I thought about something that I heard a guy in a Youtube video that I watched several months ago in regards to how regardless of how bad we may have it, there is always someone out there that has it worse than you. This is something that most of us have been taught throughout our lives, but it is often hard to conceive when you're in the midst of a storm in your life. I want to come from this perspective because I believe this perspective will help in putting this topic into its proper context.

If you've been living long enough to have a general understanding of life and how things tend to work, you will likely know by now that life isn't always fair. One of life's harshest realities is the idea that everyone won't always be dealt the same cards, nor will everyone be afforded to have the same opportunities in this life. While there are many aspects of this life that we're all equal and the same, there are also many aspects that exemplify our differences from one another. We have differences in how we think, look, etc; however, we're all the same in the sense that we're all human-beings that have the same 24 hours in a day. We're also similar in the sense that we all will die someday. We're similar to the yin and yang that exudes the balance between two opposites. Now going back to the original point that I'm trying to establish in this section of how we're not all dealt the same circumstances, some people in this life are just gonna have it worse than others. Some people are just born into circumstances that afford them the ability to have a better quality of life, while there are some people whose situations were much worse. Think of the average celebrity that has an abundance of wealth as an example. Most of their kids are likely born into a situation where they're able to attend the best colleges. They're able to do this because their parents likely have the connections and resources to afford them that chance. Now think of a the average person that is either poor, or don't have the kind of wealth that allow them to put their children through college. A person in this situation aiming to rise above this situation will probably be much harder. Now we can agree or disagree as to whether this is fair or not, but the fact of the matter is that everyone's circumstances are different. I wanted to be sure and use this portion of the topic to establish this. I'm not saying this is right or wrong, but it is something that we cannot deny happens in this life.

One of the things that I've brought up on here a countless amount of times is the idea that our judgement is often clouded whenever our mental state is all over the place. It is hard to see the good in this life when you aren't feeling good about yourself right? Isn't it hard to be grateful and appreciative when you feel like you don't have anything to be grateful for? Whether what we may be thinking of ourselves and our situations is a reality or an illusion, these are the things that we often think in the midst of dark times. Now I'll admit that it is never wise to compare ourselves to others. However, what if we took those thoughts of negativity and being unappreciative that we experience and compared them to another person that maybe has things worse than we do? Do you think we would still complain if we looked around and realized that while things aren't what you may want them to be, you are doing much better than you believe you are? From my perspective, I believe that a wise person would take a chill on the complaining and learn to be more grateful. I want you to think of this as an example. Lets say that you are a track athlete and you are competing at the state championship. You go into the event with a lot of confidence, but lets say that you end up losing the race. Naturally you're going to be hurt by this, but if you take the time and think about all the people in this world that are in wheelchairs and won't ever have the opportunity to run in their lives, you'll realize that in the grand scheme of life that your loss doesn't compare. Even in a defeat, you'll likely still be able to run again someday, while the person in the wheelchair will probably never have that experience. Again, we often don't think about these kinds of things at the moment, which is understandable. However, this is one of the reasons why I think it is important for us to try and shift our way of thinking when it comes to life if you find that you struggle with this.

So why is it important to be grateful and express gratitude? Hopefully by this point I've shown enough examples that have helped in getting my perspective across on this. However, besides the obvious fact that being grateful and showing gratitude should innately be in our nature, expressing gratitude is is utmost importance due to the fact that someone else in this world always has it worse than you do. Some of the very things that we often take for granted are also the same things that less fortunate people are wishing to have. Like I mentioned earlier in the post, we aren't all dealt the same hand in this life, and there are going to be certain areas of your life where you may be lacking in comparison to others. However, for the same areas where you may be lacking in where others aren't, someone out there probably wishes they had an area of your life where you're blessed. You are alive if you're reading this right now, which means that you are already doing pretty good. Remember that there is someone out there right this moment that is taking their last breath and likely wishing they had more time in this world to spend with those they love. You may not have 20/20 vision, but there is someone in this world that is blind and may have never had the opportunity to see anything. There may be people talking a lot and annoying you right now, but there is someone out there who is deaf and have never heard how another person's voice sounds. Again, when I take the time to think of things in terms of this, it helps me to realize how important gratitude is. Though I don't want anyone to think that it is good to compare yourself to others, I also believe that getting a point across sometimes requires us to think outside of the box a bit. So I'm challenging myself and others to try and be more grateful. Again I know this isn't always an easy thing to do, but while whatever hand of cards that you're holding now may not be the best, just being alive allows your another chance to play those cards better to improve your life.

Well I think that I've pretty much said and summed up my feelings on this topic. I'm going to go ahead and bring this one to a close, so I would like to thank everyone that came through once again for another edition of 'Brad H.'s Perspective'! I hope that this provided some insight, and I hope that I was able to express myself in a way that many of you can relate to. If you have anything that you want to contribute to this or any of the other topics that have been addressed, please feel free to do so. You can also connect with me on Twitter @BradrickH if you'd like. I just finished watching a preseason football game between my Dallas Cowboys and the Cincinnati Bengals. NFL football is right around the corner folks! Gosh do I love this time of the year, and I'm sure that many of you do as well. Well I hope that you all have a great rest of the weekend, and I wish you an even better week ahead. I'll be checking back in soon, so please stay on the lookout for me. Till then, I wish you all the best, and keep on smiling! Peace!

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