519 Being Grateful

It has come to my attention as of late that all I seem to do is complain about the food, about drink, the clothes I am wearing, the shops around me, the restaurants that I get to visit and more. As I realised this, I decided that I want to put a stop to it. I mean, do we need to be complaining about everything? NO is the answer. Even saying “I’m cold” is a complaint.

I am open to opinions, and everyone is entitled to have their own opinion and voice their opinions. Someone recently reminded me that most of the things I complain about are things that not everyone has. When you moan that you have something boring for dinner, think about some young children who only get one thing to eat per day or maybe one thing a week, they don’t complain about the one meal they get but we moan about every meal we get if we want. How is that right?

When you moan that your shoes are not comfortable, at least you have shoes to walk in. Clothes, some people in the world only have one outfit to wear, they must sleep in it and live in it, day in and day out. Pretty much all our complaints are about things we don’t like or not the right ones.

There are real problems in this world, and we need to stop taking everything for granted. You never know when you are going to lose what you have, there is an age-old saying that I strongly believe needs to be shared among us. “Enjoy what you have because you’ll never know what you have until it is gone”. Now, you may say, how can you say that? It is true, you can lose everything with a spark of a plug igniting a disastrous fire, you could suddenly get a flood destroying your belongings.

I am working on complaining less and appreciating what I have more. What more do we need? I have a roof over my head, food in the fridge, hot water, clothes, a bed to sleep in, a pen to write with and more I mean, I don’t have the best of everything, but I don’t need the best of everything, I just need it good enough. As I have said before I am also working on decluttering and trying to only have the items, I need around me. Well, that might be overly optimistic, I am not cutting down to the necessities, but I am trying to cut down the number of things I have. I am trying to buy things when they run out instead of having a back stock.

I have been slowly going through my belongings and either using the products up or finding them a home elsewhere. I seem to have compiled a lot of clothes and I don’t wear them all. I have tried to be ruthless and give a lot away. I am on my second bag of shoes.

It took a while, but I have made a small dent in my belongings. I just want people to take a step back and think about everything they have. Do you need all the items that you have? Could someone get used to the items sitting at the back of your wardrobe? What is it your family does for you that you have never appreciated? Be grateful for what you have and just enjoy it.

Next time you go on a shopping trip, think about the items you are putting in your basket, do you need them, or do you want them? Did your parents make you a lovely meal, but you were talking to your friend on the internet, so you ate in your bedroom? No, go back downstairs and eat with your parents, enjoy the hard work they put into cooking this means for you.

I can’t remember where I was but there was a group of teens hanging around, my friend saw that someone’s phone was about to fall out of their pocket. He went and tapped her shoulder to let her know.

Her response was “Oh thanks, don’t worry if I lose it my mum will just buy me a new one.” Which is a horrible response. I truly believe you must earn something to know what it is like to lose it. Many teens don’t have any respect for the technology they own because it was given to them, they didn’t have to work hard and earn the money to buy it themselves.

Overall, I would like you to think about the items you have around you, what are you reading this on? Did you buy it yourself? Do you look after it? Show a bit more appreciation and be grateful for those around you and what they do for you.