How Being Thankful Can Bring a Positive Mindset

Year after year, the world faces new challenges to beat and conquer. One of those challenges this year is the Covid-19 pandemic. During this time, the whole world came together to fight the virus and to survive. People’s lives have been turned upside-down, and some families have lost their loved ones. But despite these challenges, some of us stayed positive, resilient, and looks at the bright side. I think that there are still so many things that we should be thankful for, such as family, stability in life, the ability of adapting to situations, having the strength to face new challenges, and being resilient in spite of hardships.

Practicing gratitude is an essential act everyone should be doing to stay in a positive mindset. Every Christmas, we gather with our families and loved ones to celebrate the occasion, share blessings, and spread joy. Many people are fortunate to have their partners, parents, and siblings alive and well because that is not the case for everybody. Especially orphans and widows who do not get to enjoy everyday life and holidays like many people do. With that said, the first thing I am thankful for during this holiday is having my family by my side alive, well, and in a good health.

Many people lost their homes since the pandemic and ended up living in cars, shelters or the streets. The world economy went into alert mode and began to collapse. Most countries around the world are spending more money than what they make which puts them in debt. People have lost their jobs and had to change the way they live. However, there are people who are fortunate enough to have a roof over their head and are able to maintain their lifestyle even during the pandemic. I am very thankful to be one of them.

Having the skill to adapt new environments and situations is crucial to maintain a happy life and avoid stress and anxiety. Those who tend to adapt quickly to new environments, have the ability to find new opportunities faster than others. On the other hand, those who keep whining about their misfortunes and constantly complain without doing any action to solve the problem are probably getting stuck most of the time without moving in any direction. This all happens when we lose hope and start to view the world from half empty glass view (negative, unmotivated…etc). Thus, the holiday atmosphere keeps reminding us of hope and that good people still exist. And I am grateful that I was able to adopt to new environments and situations no matter how challenging they can be.

When the pandemic started, different countries handled the virus in different ways they saw fit. There are certain governments who took the virus seriously from the very beginning (e.g. Australia) and there are some which did not pay attention to the death or infection rates until it spread to a huge scale (e.g. United States). Communities with a higher education rates practiced Covid-19 precautions more seriously than uneducated communities. Furthermore, first-world countries were able to handle the spread in a better manner compared to some poor governments because they have access to more resources. With that stated, I am thankful to live in a country where the pandemic has been handled properly.

Great people remind us to stay strong during rough times and to stay resilient in the face of life hardships. Mohammed Ali for example, faced racism in his way to be a professional boxer and achieving the world heavyweight championship title. Ali did not quit, but rather than stayed persistent and true toward his goals and what he believes in. What we can learn from his story is how to be thankful for having the strength to fight for the causes we believe in and being thankful for having freedom of speech. I am personally thankful for Social Justice and Human Rights activists who fight every single day trying to make our world a better place to live in. I am also grateful for our scientists and our frontline responders who work day and night to keep us safe and finding new ways to fight the pandemic.

Overall, practicing gratitude is a skill we need to acquire and learn. Our brains are wired to pay attention to negative situations more than the positive ones and we have to change our way of thinking. Counting our blessings is one way to shift our mind’s focus to the positive things. As an individual, I try to make it a habit to list the stuff that I am grateful for everyday. I am also thankful to be given the opportunity to write this article and share it with all great people around the world. As Oprah Winfrey once said “Be thankful for what you have; you will end up having more. If you concentrate on what you do not have, you will never, ever have enough.”