Grumpy Gratitude

To celebrate Thanksgiving my morning meditation inspired me to be thankful. It’s easy to think of positive blessings like my husband, family, friends, enough food, comfortable home, etc. Instead, I listed things from A to Z that make me grumpy. Then I challenged myself to write why I’m thankful for the life lesson that each of these irritations teaches me.

Anger helps me work through the issue and get over it.

Boredom causes me to break through the monotony so that I can strive to reach my goals.

Corruption teaches me to be mindful of staying safe.

Demeaned is initially hurtful, but then I focus on my strengths and become stronger.

Evil people are a challenge for me to not return evil for evil. Instead, I grow when I forgive them for their bad behavior.

Fraudulent behavior encourages me to turn inward and ask, “Am I being true to myself.”

Gruesome things make me turn my head away and then peek through my fingers. I feel satisfaction when I push myself out of my comfort zone.

Humiliation humbles me to be clear about my values.

Immoral people help me focus on those I love who are role models for high moral standards.

Jealousy is an emotion that I don’t understand. When I see it displayed by others, I appreciate that I don’t feel it.

Killing and death make me sad. Intellectually I understand that it happens in life. I accept it, because I have to.

Lying, dishonest, insincere, untruthful, two-faced people are very difficult for me to give them grace. It does show me what I don’t want to be and how I don’t want to act.

Mean people must be put on this earth so I can have caring, kind and compassion “knights in shining armors” rescue me from the meanness.

Nasty smells and offensive odors help me appreciate the sweet smell of flowers, turkey baking in the oven and pine trees.

Offensive people make my defenses stronger.

Petty complaints cause me to appreciate the small things in life.

Quixotic people challenge me to imagine what could be possible and not dismiss it as foolishly impractical.

Rudeness brings out the sweetest southern accent that I can muster by “killing them with kindness.”

Shame forces me to “own” my faults and idiosyncrasies and not feel ashamed by my shortcomings.

Tiredness frustrates me because my mind thinks I’m still 35 years old, but my body tells me to use finesse instead of brute force.

Untrustworthy and Untruthful makes me try that much harder to be a faithful, trusting friend and confidant.

Vulgar manners by others cause me to be thankful that my parents taught me good manners.

Wrath when directed at me causes me to go into my shell, but when I emerge, I am stronger for I realize that hurting people hurt people.

eXpectations for myself are high and I hope the same of others. If they fall short, it gives me an opportunity to mentor them to achieve higher standards.

Yes men or Yes women are difficult for me to understand because I want to hear peoples’ real opinions. It teaches me that I need to encourage them to standup for their beliefs.

Zoning-out irritates me as it occurs more often as I get older. It encourages me to take time for reflection and prayer so that I can stay focused during critical times.

My gift for today is giving thanks to my blog readers for your support in “liking” and commenting on my posts. I give you my Grumpy Gratitude list as a guide to create your own.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Robin