Gratitude.
Before I start this post, thank you. The feedback on this blog has been overwhelming, and I could not be more grateful for all of you who take the time to read it. It has honestly driven me to want to go into the field of mental health after college. Knowing that I am helping people in some way makes me feel blessed and, honestly, emotional, as I’m just a girl who loves to write, read good literature, and wants to remove the stigma surrounding mental health. Enough of my rambling, let’s get into today’s topic, which is, funny enough, gratitude.
I was the person striving for more in life, rather than focusing on what I already have. It started when I was a kid, as a girl could never have too many toys to play with or books to read. It would evolve into wanting more friends, thinking I did not have any. It would evolve into never being satisfied with my workouts, thinking I wasn’t making any progress in the gym. It would evolve into career and school work. It would evolve into me always being in a state of doing the most, wanting more when I know I shouldn't (please get the Star Wars reference). I lived this way for so long that it was costing me to not be truly present in valuable moments, as a voice in my head said, 'You could have more,’ or ‘there is more out there for you.’ While yes, striving for more in life can be an amazing motivator, it can take a toll on you and blind you from what you have. You may actually lose something, rather than gain something. We have to be grateful for what we have in the PRESENT.
It is always difficult to think you do, but I want to give you an example of someone who came from nothing and learned to be grateful for what was already present. Robert James Kovacs did not grow up with a lot. He lived with his parents, Anna and James, in Bridgeport, CT. He was an altar boy at his local church, speaking Latin. He spoke Hungarian and English also. He graduated from Bassick High School and is the creator of Kovacs Garage. He met Mary Ellen Speer, the nurse who was tending to his father at the hospital. The two would marry and raise eight children together, and soon watch their multiple grandchildren grow up. The two of them became the hardest-working couple, trying to provide for their family. Robert works during the day at the garage, and Mary Ellen works the night shift at the hospital—the definition of a power couple. He had a passion for the outdoors, cars, but most of all, his family was his life. Yes, hardships were encountered, but at the end of the day, both were eternally grateful for the life they had built together. Trying to start a business while providing for a family is the recipe for making sacrifices. Yes, he was always working, but that never stopped him from going on fishing trips, visiting car shows, being at the Pequonnock Yacht Club, and spending time with family. Sadly, he passed away in 2010. That man was my grandfather, and that woman is my grandmother.
Be grateful for what is in front of you. Take a look around you and say to yourself, “I have a roof over my head, food on my plate, clothes on my body, and a family who is always there for me.” You do not know what can happen at any given moment; be grateful for the moments you have with grandparents. Be grateful for your friends! Most importantly, be grateful that you wake up each day with a beating heart and air that fills your lungs. Send a text or give a call and tell people that you love them. You never know how much that text or call can mean to someone. It took me a while to adopt this new perspective on life. It was hard, especially as a young woman, always comparing myself to others. But my mother always says, “It’s about the quality, not the quantity.”
So, I have a task for you. Please write down five things you are grateful for in your life at this very moment. I want you to text or call a loved one, tell them you love them and are grateful for them (friends or family). I don’t even care if you haven’t talked to them in a while; the action means a lot more than you think.
Each day is a gift!
