[Average read time: 4 minutes]
Gratitude is an attitude that should be practiced all year, but Thanksgiving and the holiday season is a great reminder. I think I’m a grateful person. I hope I’m a grateful person, but sometimes I need to exercise my gratitude muscle. These quotes will do just that.
17 Unique Quotes About Gratitude
1) “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.” – Epictetus
2) “Learn to be thankful for what you already have, while you pursue all that you want.” —Jim Rohn
3) “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, “thank you,” that would suffice. – Meister Eckhart
4) “Enough is as good as a feast.” – Sir Thomas Malory
5) “A grateful mind is a great mind which eventually attracts to itself great things.’ – Plato
6) “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others. – Marcus Tullius Cicero
7) “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” —Robert Brault
8) “If you cannot be grateful for what you have received, then be thankful for what you have been spared.” – Yiddish Proverb
9) “Do not tell the man who is carrying you that he stinks.” – African Proverb
10) “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” – Epicurus
11) “Nothing more detestable does the earth produce than an ungrateful man.” – Decimus Magnus Ausonius
12) “When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them.” – Chinese Proverb
13) “Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.” —Alphonse Karr
14) “He that is hard to please, may get nothing in the end.” – Aesop
15) “He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.” – Socrates
16) “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” —William Arthur Ward
17) “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” —Albert Einstein
“I GET TO” Gratitude Challenge
I often catch myself in the first world problem trap. You know, those daily things that are frustrating AF, but are really just minor inconveniences. For example, too much milk in my iced coffee or not knowing what to write next.
Really!?
If my biggest problems in life are too much 2% in my morning coffee and not finding something to write about, life is pretty fucking good.
I forget that sometimes.
Everyone is fighting a battle that is rarely visible to outsiders looking in. Life truly is a battlefield and we’re constantly defending against the relentless onslaught of shit. Problems with money, health, relationships, career – it can be tempting to surrender to this invisible enemy and lose perspective.
Gratitude is not just your secret weapon, it’s the entire cavalry.
My gratitude muscle needs more training…
“I GET TO” Gratitude Challenge
What are three things in life that are causing anxiety, stress, or frustration?
Change the “I HAVE TO” to “I GET TO” in each situation. That’s it.
ONE
I HAVE TO find something to write about.
I GET TO find something to write about and if I don’t, that’s okay.
PERSPECTIVE: My kids are healthy. There’s food on the table and a roof over my head. Everything else is just a bonus. Worst case scenario: I don’t write today and no one gives a shit.
TWO
I HAVE TO go to a 9-5 job when I really want to write.
I GET TO go to a 9-5 job that provides everything my kids and I need.
PERSPECTIVE: My job provides for all the basics – food, housing, insurance, and a little extra to spend on my kids. I don’t worry about the lights being turned off or if my kids have enough to eat. Since I don’t have to worry about surviving, I get to use the mental energy reserves to write and create.
THREE
I HAVE TO fly to Los Angeles to see my kids now that I’m divorced.
I GET TO fly to Los Angeles to see my kids.
PERSPECTIVE: I’m incredibly lucky to have a stable job and the opportunity to see my kids every month. Not everyone is able to do the same. There are soldiers who are risking their lives overseas and they don’t get to hold their kids for years at a time. Meanwhile, I get to sit here at Starbucks, thinking about Thanksgiving dinner with family tomorrow, and planning my trip to see my kids next weekend.
I’m lucky as shit!
I didn’t plan this life, but I plan to make the best of this life.
Gratitude is about perspective.
What’s the alternative to gratitude? Complaining might feel good at first, but it doesn’t lead anywhere worthwhile. Also, people don’t want to hear complaining. Most people don’t give a shit about my problems and the rest are probably happy I have them.
“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.” – Buddha
I leave you with the gratitude-provoking words of Leslie Chow…
