In recent years, life has found trying to bog me down. Simply through the business of life, I have felt an urge towards the pessimist. Of all the adjectives people could attach to my name, “pessimist” is most certainly not one of them. I want to be someone who uplifts people not only with my encouragement for them but also through the outlook I hold about my own life!

Thus, a couple weeks ago I decided it was time I started living a much more thankful life. I’d had enough of blaming my pessimism on life. After all, if I wanted to be a happier person, I realized that the choice was inevitably mine! Other people and life could do their very best to tear me down, but at the end of each day, it is always my choice whether or not I will remain positive or not. So, I started doing something very simple that has completely changed my outlook! Each day, before I open an email, answer a FB message, or even take a shower, I sit down with a pencil and notepad. My phone is placed on airplane mode. My computer is closed. It is just me, a pencil, and a notepad. I set my little clock to ten minutes, and for just that small window of time, I do nothing but write out as many things I can think of to be thankful for. Sometimes I fill half a page, and other days I do good to get through five lines. The goal however is slowly being achieved one day at a time: a life marked by an unwavering gratitude for the many blessings I have all around me every day.

And so today I’m sharing some things that I’m most thankful for (not in any particular order). Life is far too short to live through the whole thing being grumpy. =)

1. I have a family that loves each other
2. Eggnog is coming out earlier every year
3. Most of my grandparents are still alive
4. I have the physical and mental ability to type all this out
5. When I wake up tomorrow morning, it will be to a roof over my head and warm blanket over my body
6. I live in a country that believes in freedom
7. When I work hard on my business and in school, I get tangible results
8. I have a reliable car that can get me all around
9. My metabolism is still going strong
10. Its okay for me to take a few days of form working to just rest with the family
11. Business is picking up quite a bit recently
12. My friends truly believe in my work
13. When my tires give out, I have the money to buy new ones
14. Food tastes good
15. God has bestowed me with an unbelievable amount of patience
16. There are incredible couples out there who, through their mere example, show the rest of us how to love well
17. Sleeping forces us to take a break from our toils
18. Tomorrow morning the sun will rise
19. Despite all the pain and suffering, there is still hope in this world
20. I have a hope found in a savior who loved me enough to die for me