The Gratitude Attitude
Counting Your Blessings Changes Everything
The Power of Gratitude
I think the quickest way to feel good is to be grateful.
Appreciating What We Take for Granted
Someone might spend their whole life wishing they could see: I rarely pause to be thankful that I’ve sight. I take it for granted.
Health, Wealth and Simple Joys
Children born deaf have their whole lives shaped differently than those who can hear. Not once this morning have I been thankful for my hearing—until now.
Thousands lost their sense of taste after contracting covid. I have just enjoyed a scrumptious, tasty breakfast.
Many don’t have enough to eat. I have plenty. Moreover, I’m lucky enough to know what is and isn’t healthy to eat. And I’m disciplined enough, usually, to choose what’s good for my body, mind and wellbeing.
Freedom from Struggles Many Face
People spend years trying to quit smoking, drugs or other addictions. Happily, I’m free of addictions.
Family, Love and Personal Growth
Many have unhappy marriages. I’ve been blessed with a happy marriage. Many couples long to have children but can’t. I’ve been blessed with a son and a daughter, who have grown into adults I’m proud of.
Critical Thinking and Freedom
I’m lucky enough to have a high level of education. I broke free from unhealthy thinking and false beliefs as a young man. I liberated myself from indoctrination. I learnt to think for myself—and to judge, decide and act accordingly.
I abandoned security for freedom, leaving the priestly path in my 20s; quitting a permanent, pensionable career as a teacher in my 30s to become a writer; and, in my 40s, quitting my role as a commissioning editor to get back to writing.
I am lucky to have learnt early in life that money doesn’t make you happy.
The Gift of Good Health and Medical Advances
Many people have ill-health—my father was dead by my age. While I have coronary artery disease, I’m aware of it. I’m lucky enough to have had a battery of tests—ECG, stress test, echo, CT scan, angiogram and MRI. I live in a time and place where medical science can diagnose, treat and monitor the disease; where I have access to a great cardiologist; and be prescribed effective medication.
My weight is good, my diet is healthy. I’m quite fit and exercise regularly, at supervised gym classes and Pilates, plus I walk the dog and cycle.
Yesterday, I’d more good news: my cardiologist had the results of a recent MRI and it was, in his words, ‘very, very reassuring’. All parts of my heart were getting enough blood supply. It was ‘as good as can be’.
The Gratitude Practice That Changes Everything
The gratitude attitude turns everything around. No matter what is going on in our lives, we have much more to be thankful for than we realise. The trick is to pause and start listing those things.
I keep a gratitude journal. When I list as many blessings as I can think of at night, I’m in a better mood the following day.
Finding the Silver Lining—Even in Politics
Yesterday Trump and Starmer, the British prime minister, met at the White House. Starmer played a stormer! His invitation from the king, his flattery of the mercurial Trump, seemed to work a treat.
It was astounding when Trump said ‘Did I say that?’ after being reminded by a journalist that he had recently called President Zelensky of Ukraine a ‘dictator’. I wondered: Does he have Alzheimer’s?
He also seemed to forget he so recently said that the EU was founded to ‘screw’ the US, a ridiculous allegation.
Trump’s first Cabinet meeting was shocking, as he boasted none of them would contradict him. Meanwhile, Musk, the unelected billionaire, stood overseeing all.
What can we be thankful for about the White House? Well, at least yesterday, 27 February 2025, Trump wasn’t calling President Zelensky a dictator. It seemed that the UK might be spared tariffs and get a trade agreement with the US. And Trump meets Zelensky today for a mineral deal that might edge Ukraine closer to a permanent peace. And the Taoiseach has been invited to the White House to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.
A Final Thought: Count Your Blessings
Write down one thing you’re grateful for. Then another. And another. It might be the best thing you do today for your mental health. Just do it.
Happy days,
Joe
Joe’s acclaimed first memoir In My Gut, I Don’t Believe is available on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback, Hardback and Audible editions. His second memoir Saved by a Woman is available on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback, and Hardback editions.
So true Joe I wish you continued Good Health and Happiness to all the Armstrong Family Regards Den