November 7

Take moments out of your day to be grateful for your life, especially after you hear of a tragedy or disaster.


Ah, the double edged sword of gratitude.  One the one hand, I agree that you should be grateful for everything you have, especially when some people have so little.  On the other hand, that is a horrible feeling when you are venting to someone and they say "yeah, but at least you are not...[insert thing to make you feel guilty here].  My favorite was when someone told me "at least you don't have cancer!"


So yes, you should be grateful.  But don't mistake gratitude for guilt.  My advice would be to list five things you are grateful for as often as you remember to.  Also, never try to "put things into perspective" (unless people are being completely ridiculous) when you are listening to someone vent about something for the first time.  Especially if the woman has PMS; that is downright dangerous.
AMANDA

I make a conscious effort to not complain about my problems constantly to other people. I just hate it when I have to sit and listen to others complain about their stupid, insignificant problems, so I try not to do that myself.

Oh, Amanda, I know! I absolutely hate it when people try to "put things into perspective" for me. I am so grateful that I have friends who just let me feel what I am feeling and don't make me feel guilty or stupid about being upset about one thing or another. For example, there was a bit of drama at our movie night a week ago (which you might know if you have been following our blog recently) and even though in retrospect what happened was not that big of a deal, I am so grateful to Amanda for not making me feel worse by trying to make me stop feeling sorry for myself. Sometimes you need to soak in the sorrow and experience the pain. That has always worked for me.

xx Brie