Live in gratitude & be happy even if the rest of the things on this list never happen

I’ve reached a space where I pretty naturally respond to the question “how’s it going?” with “I can’t complain.” And it really feels true. I don’t attribute this attitude really to having accomplished anything in particular. I know that for the last six months to a year or so things have just felt easier, even though various events have conspired to cause more stress objectively speaking. (My son announced that his girlfriend was pregnant for instance and, for about the last year, he, his girlfriend and our adorable grand-daughter have lived with Mib7 and myself, in a house that was perhaps not overly large to begin with. It’s turned out to be a treasure really to see our grand-child on a daily basis.)
People seem genuinely shocked when I say I can’t complain which really just gives me another thing to feel grateful about, namely, that I no longer am in that space. I might find myself there again but for the moment, I’m counting myself blessed.

I’m not, shall we say, naturally gifted with gratitude so I’m always looking for things that will make me realize how thankful I should be for the conditions in which I find myself. So for the last couple weeks, whenever someone asks “How you doing?” or “How’s it going?” I’ve been responding “I shouldn’t complain.” I mean, I still DO complain, sometimes about the stupidest things really but face it, I’ve got it pretty darned good compared with most people in history or even living now. Next step, I want to get to the mental space where I can respond “I can’t complain” which means to me that I’ve internalized a deeper sense of gratitude.

I came across something I made awhile back when I was really negative, that is, a gratitude journal. It was just a pad of paper I kept beside the bed and at night before turning in, I’d scribble down a couple things I was grateful for. I know it sounds stupid but it was good for me to remember positive things during that period when only the bad things were popping to the top of my mind. Also, in keeping a journal of my gratitude, I was able to look back and remind myself of the blessings that had come my way in days past.