Gratitude Amidst the Storm

Jake Luehrs
November 30, 2024

ONE QUESTION

How can you make your pain useful?

ONE THING TO PONDER

Arguments aren’t something to win, they are something to unpack.

ONE PERSPECTIVE

Gratitude is easy when we feel good. Gratitude isn’t a flex when it’s easy.

Yet, how would we experience life if we also felt gratitude for the challenges we face?

If we truly want to experience gratitude, we need to be grateful for everything, the good experiences, the challenges, and the tough emotions. That may sound counter intuitive, yet hang in there with me.

There is a gift wrapped up in each challenge we face in life. However, we simply can’t see the gift while the wrapping paper is still on.

And unfortunately, the only way to unwrap the gift is to allow time to reveal the meaning behind the challenge.

We’ve all had hard times show up in our lives…all of us. Challenges don’t make us unique, they make us human. Take comfort in knowing you’re not alone.

There is a choice at the crossroads. We can use those hard times as a blessing or we can use them as a crutch in perpetuity.

It's not uncommon to talk with people that are grateful for the challenges that they’ve endured during their lives.

Those challenges can have the opportunity to be great gifts:

They can expose opportunities that would have otherwise been hidden.
They have the ability to open the door to relationships that change the trajectory of our lives.
They bring wisdom, perspective and appreciation to the things that really matter.
They increase our strength and resilience.Onward and upward

Yet, to get all the benefits from challenges, having gratitude towards them is an important practice to hold.

If you hold the perspective that challenges are just there to get in the way, you’ll live the rest of your life unhappily.

Yet if you bring a level of meaning to the challenges, they have a way of transforming your perspective and bringing fulfillment.

It’s a situation I like to label “I wish it didn’t happen, but I’m glad it did.”

My challenge to you as we head into the holiday season is to focus on the gifts that the current challenges you’re facing are giving you.

Find meaning, wisdom, and perspective in overcoming the challenges and being a gift to others in the process.

Wishing you peace and strength!

Onward and upward!

PODCAST

The Seven Frequencies of Human Connection with Erwin McManus

The Ed Mylett Show

This was a fascinating listen. Of course we can all get better skilled at what we say, yet how it’s felt and the connection it creates is far more impactful. There is some really great content in this episode that can help identify where you thrive and how to create the best relationships and outcomes.

BOOK RECOMMENDATION

The Lesson: A fable of Our Times
by Carol Lynn Pearson

This book was recently recommended to me. It’s a fantastic short read. Probably 20 min read, but the foundational truths are phenomenal. We read it with our children. It’s a story that discusses perspectives around problems. Life is going to bring them, that isn’t the question. The question is what is your perspective of problems? And how it will affect your ability to enjoy life.