I once heard a podcaster say ‘If you were born in America, you won the lottery.’ I have pondered that statement numerous times since hearing it wondering if I even understand the depth of it. Born many other places in this world and I would have been poorer than my brain can imagine. Maybe I would be searching for water and food daily. Maybe I would be underprivileged without a mom or dad to love me. Maybe I would be sold or bought or used. Maybe I wouldn’t have been educated in a school, working to survive instead.
Sometimes we Americans forget that we have won the born-into-America lottery. We see what we don’t have, what they have and quickly come to the conclusion that we have less and want more. Advertisers and companies want us to believe this and buy more, consume more, buy what they have. And while I don’t want to make any of us feel guilty for something out of our control, I do think it’s good to remember our incredibly blessed reality.
“The question is not what you look at, but what you see.” -Henry Thoreau
There are some of us able to see things around us through a beauty lens while others of us see things through a murky, foggy, dirty lens. I am a person who lies somewhere in the middle, searching and scanning the horizon for beauty, but sometimes getting stuck in the fog. I have to try really hard to see the simple gifts, the pleasures, the grace in the everyday. Some days are easier than others, but it takes conscious effort on a daily basis.
Recently I have been reading Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts devotional. It’s shown me there is real beauty and grace all around me in the everyday, I need only look for it. I have been practicing gratitude by journaling things I’m grateful for every morning before my sleepy kids tumble out of bed. I am on my way to noting and remembering 1,000 gifts. Each time I scribble a gift, I thank God for it. It’s a simple ‘thank you’, an act of noticing and remembering.
Practicing gratitude not only allows us to see the beauty in the everyday, it allows us to see what we have instead of seeing what we don’t have.
So, how do we do this? How do we practice gratitude?
1. Seek it out and write it down
First, I think the most important thing is to intentionally seek out gratitude. Look for it every single day. See the gifts, the graces, the beauty. And I think it’s important to write it down. Write it in a notes app, in a journal, or maybe even get with a friend and tell each other everyday via Marco Polo or text. Keeping each other accountable will help this practice linger long after this blog post is forgotten.
2. Do it everyday
Next, I think we need to do it consistently. Not just for the month of November or December. Let’s make it part of a morning routine, evening routine, or any other routine. Let’s make it a part of our ordinary day, something we don’t have to think about. Maybe it could be your one simple thing in the morning.
3. Allow it to change you
I think, I hope, gratitude will change us from the inside out. It will show us what we have: the sleepy smile of a child, the cozy home, the fresh flowers on the counter, the warmth of a daughter’s hug before bed, the family and friends and loved ones we do life with. Gratitude will allow us to see the abundance in our lives. It will gift us a lens of beauty: one that sees and hears and views tiny little graces everywhere.
And I think the domino effect of practicing gratitude will propel us into action. Gratitude will allow us to see our own abundance and instead of wanting more, it will show us how to give more. It will help us see others who don’t have as much and inspire us to give. Maybe it will even stir in us a desire to Hand Out Honey Like A Five Year Old. It will change our perspective and give us a deeper love for the people in our homes, communities, and the world. I think gratitude can do that.
Gratitude is an intangible thing: a vision to see the gifts and graces, a chase for the beauty lens.