Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. –Melody Beattie

This has long been one of my favorite quotes. I have had it on my bedside table through some pretty rough times as a reminder to live with a heart of gratitude, no matter what was going on in my life. We need to continually remind ourselves of the simple truths in life.

Here is another quote I found over the weekend, and it is one of those that when I read it, it resonated in my spirit. I could not stop thinking about it.

The more I understand the mind and the human experience, the more I begin to suspect there is no such thing as unhappiness; there is only ungratefulness. –Steve Maraboli

I love, love, LOVE this quote. Oh, what a golden nugget of truth.

Yes indeed, gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.

The times in my life that I have been my unhappiest, I was not being grateful in those moments. I was not being grateful for what I did have. I was more focused on what was wrong in my life, not what was right. It happens to us all sometimes. Circumstances will begin to feel more than we can handle. But those circumstances are only part of our lives. There is always something to be thankful for, and we must always remember to look for those things in our life and to focus on them and give thanks for them.

Gratitude and focus are the secrets to a happier life. Earlier in the year, I wrote about ways to cultivate a spirit of gratitude in your life, including a gratitude journal if you would need some help practicing gratitude.

While going through the rough times that I mentioned, I often referred to myself as the unhappiest happy person that I knew. I always said that both realities simultaneously existed, and they did. What I did not realize, as simple as it sounds, is that I had the power to change the channel and choose my focus for that moment, for that day. Sometimes the best advice is in the simplest of truths. In reality what I was really having was a focus problem. When I focused on what was wrong or lacking or lost, I was unhappy. When I focused on all the wonderful blessings that I still had in my life and all that was still yet to be, to dream and to do, I felt happy. So maybe, just maybe, what if we thought of unhappiness as a focus problem. Not a circumstance problem, but a focus problem.

Sometimes we just need to change the channel. 

-Topaz

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.

There is no such thing as unhappiness; there is only ungratefulness. Unhappiness, therefore, is many times a focus problem. Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.

What are you grateful for today?

~Topaz