“If you can read this message, you are more blessed than two billion people in the world who cannot read.” ⏤Joyce Meyer, author of The Power of Being Thankful

There’s no crappy situation that a quick, on-the-spot gratitude list can’t help, but another approach to the tool of gratitude is to keep a master gratitude list that you add to on a regular basis, and that you can refer back to whenever you need.

The master gratitude list is like the list of every book you’ve read, or every movie you’ve seen, or every 5,000 foot mountain you’ve climbed. It’s a historical record of every person, place, thing, or moment that you are grateful for. It’s not pulled out like a magic spell to conquer a single crappy moment, but instead, it’s used to center you and ground you in a general sense. You can use it to extend an amazing and uplifting frame of reference, or to gird you when you face a major, unbalancing situation, whether you anticipated that situation or not.

The master gratitude list accounts for the full spectrum of things you are grateful for, including the things like running water that are such an integral and expected part of life that you rarely even remember to be grateful for them. It’s so easy to forget the small things that others lack but that are virtually guaranteed in your life. The master list accounts for these, and everything else, big and small. It accounts for all the personal and professional relationships that you cherish and that add value to your life. It accounts for the experiences that formed you, even the bitter ones. It accounts for the challenges and low moments that brought you to the strength you possess today. It accounts for everything that you recognize as a gift, for whatever reason. It’s the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful. It’s the master list of the master gifts.

With the right frame of mind, you can be grateful for even a windowsill. Here are the words of a wise stranger: 

“I was sitting by the window with my feet up on the windowsill. I was grateful for the windowsill because that meant I had a window. And because I had a window, that meant that I had a room. And because I had a room, that meant that I had a place to live. And because I had a place to live, that meant that I had a roof over my head. And there was a time not too long ago when I didn’t have a roof over my head. And that is why I am grateful for this windowsill.”

Did you sleep in a bed last night? Did you eat today? Do you have running water? Do you live in a country free from warfare? Can you read and write? Is there at least one person walking this earth who cares about you? If you said yes to any of these questions, you already have the beginnings of a beautiful master gratitude list.

Copyright 2023 Kesel Wilson (entirely, 100% human-created)

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