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Editor's notebook: An attitude of gratitude – Tennessee Lookout [1]

['More From Author', 'November', 'J. Holly Mccall']

Date: 2023-11-23

This is the time of year in which many people speak of what they are thankful for — typically including family, friends, good health and a job that pays the bills. We give thanks for the good things in our lives.

But let’s discuss gratitude. Thankfulness is often directed to others — we thank someone for what they have done for us — while gratitude is self-directed; an attitude of being grateful for what we have or have experienced. Some say thankfulness is an emotion while gratitude is an attitude.

I like both.

I came to an appreciation and practice of gratitude in late middle age, through my participation in a 12-step group. It was there, for the first time, that I heard people — lots of people — freely and openly discuss the topic.

It was an awakening for me to hear stories from folks whose lives had been much rougher than mine — those who had lived in homelessness sometimes, women who lived through the death of a child, acquaintances who had grown up in abject poverty and neglect, recovering addicts coming into meetings from prison — saying, with smiles upon their faces, how much gratitude they had for their experiences.

At first, I couldn’t wrap my head around the concept: Why be glad for terrible, or even unpleasant experiences?

I can’t put my finger on exactly when I absorbed what a comfort it is to practice gratitude, but I have found it is solace to be able to appreciate even stressful or painful experiences.

Recently, my hometown — Franklin, Tennessee — experienced an existential election, the outcome of which would have major ramifications for residents, as one candidate openly consorted with neo-Nazis, besmirched longtime residents and the work they’ve done and attacked marginalized groups. I found myself unusually anxious — until the day I found my gratitude.

I examined the good that came from the experience. The election brought attention to the increasing far-right trend in local politics some community members have been sounding the alarm about for years, and I am grateful people across the state — and country — have taken notice.

I’m grateful for the very weird turn of the election when it managed to unite rather than divide the people of Franklin, with Republicans, Democrats and the usually apolitical coming together.

I think of my late parents so much at the holidays, and while I miss them terribly, I’m grateful that my brother and I have become so much closer in the time since we lost our father and mother.

And I’m eternally grateful for the program that gave me the tools with which to appreciate the fullness of life.

Sadness, anger and pain are part of life, and there is much today in Tennessee, the U.S. and the world to cause us anxiety and ache. We cannot right all wrongs. We will all experience hurts from friends and family members, betrayals and lost relationships. It is natural for us to experience the intense emotions that accompany these events, and yes, there are some traumas that surpass comprehension.

But most of us can practice gratitude, beginning today, for the lessons learned from unpleasant experiences and the joy from the pleasant ones. Gratitude can be a true gift of the season.







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[1] Url: https://tennesseelookout.com/2023/11/23/editors-notebook-an-attitude-of-gratitude/

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