Finding Thankfulness in the Crappy Situations

Thankful.

When I think of the word “thankful,”  I immediately think of Thanksgiving. Maybe it’s because I’m starting to be surrounded by pumpkin spice everything. But, thankfulness has been on my mind today.

I realize thankfulness is something that we don’t need a holiday for. We don’t need to save it all up for that one special day a year. We can choose to be thankful everyday…several times a day. And, it is Critical that we do.

If we really think about it, we can find a reason to be thankful in almost everything. Even the crappy stuff.

For example, today I had a ridiculously low tire (psi of 16 when it was supposed to be 50!) My gas gauge also said I had a dangerously low amount of gas-9 miles left until empty! YIKES!

I had just wrapped up a great spin class (yay me-still going strong on that!) I notice the gas gauge AND the low tire pressure lights on my dash and decide I better head to the gas station to take care of both things. I honestly wanted nothing more than a big glass of ice water and a shower since I was so hot and sweaty from spin class. I pull up to the gas station and go to grab my wallet and realize I had left it at home. This meant, I had NO MONEY to buy gas and I would be lucky to make it home with the little amount of gas I had! But, I had no other choice. I pull forward to the air pump (thank God that was free!) As I’m sitting there squatted down filling all 4 tires with air, my thighs were killing me from spin class and I almost couldn’t get back up to standing position they were so tired! Instagram post. I get all 4 tires filled with gas and I head home to grab my wallet. I was in a rush to get showered and cleaned up in time to pick up my Little Ladybug from preschool so that added to the stress of it all. I get showered and make it to the gas station (3 miles until empty!) I get my vehicle filled up with gas and I STILL make it to preschool on time. PFEW!

Let me just say this….can you even count the amount of things that went wrong in that hour? All of that happened in just one hour!!!

I was surprised to find myself staying so calm.

When my mind started drifting towards getting angry, I felt God reminding me of everything that I should be thankful for in that hour rather than focusing on everything that was going wrong.

Here’s what I came up with:

 

1. I made it to the gas station for air without blowing a tire and causing a car wreck
2. I have a nice, reliable vehicle that I can count on to bring me places (when I fill it with gas! ha)
3. I just finished up a really great workout for which I’m healthy enough to do so
4. I’m blessed to have such a nice fitness facility at my disposal for free
5. I have fresh, clean water to drink when I’m so thirsty after a work out-not all places in the world can say the same
6. I’m filling my tires with FREE air (I’ve seen some places charge for this-I’m lucky I stumbled upon one that was free when I didn’t even have a quarter in the cup holder)
7. Sometimes, I have to just stop and think “I’m in Hawaii!” It’s a blessing to just BE in such an incredible place…even if I’m in a crappy situation at the moment-it’s still Hawaii and I’m surrounded by palm trees as I’m filling my tire with air
8. I made it home safely where I was able to enjoy that cup of ice-cold water and could take a nice shower to refresh myself.
9. I made it back to the gas station and there was NO LINE so I was able to get in and out quickly
10. I made it to preschool in time to pick up my Little Ladybug
11. While I’m at it…I’m thankful for HER too 😉

 

Wow! It’s crazy to me to think how easily I could have let anger and frustration cloud my view and make me miss out on all of those blessings.

If I let the devil have his way, I would’ve spent that hour cussing about how “everything was going wrong” and how it was just a “horrible day now.”

Instead, I kept my focus on the positive and that horrible stuff happening didn’t even put a damper on my day. I went on to pick up Ladybug from preschool, we had lunch together and enjoyed the rest of our day.

How many times do we not choose thankfulness over frustration and anger?

How many blessing have I missed out on in the past because I let the devil control my emotions rather than listen to God telling me it’ll be okay and to focus on the good in the situation instead?

If you’re like me, I know I can be quick to anger at times and it makes me sad to think of those times I chose anger over thankfulness.

There is so much to be thankful for. If I can begin to seek out the good in the ugly situations, perhaps I’ll be better about appreciating the obvious things more often.

Thankfulness leads to a happy heart. A happy heart leads to a happy life.

I don’t know about you. But, I want a happy life AND a happy heart. It starts with thankfulness!

What’s something YOU found to be thankful for today in an ugly situation?

Did you recognize it at the time? Or, did it take reflecting on the situation later on to realize it?

How would’ve it changed the outcome if you had focused on finding the good in the situation first?

With Aloha,

Lacy

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