I couldn’t help myself. Eminem lyrics still pop out of my head every so often. Recently, I had taken a break from overexerting myself. I started down a new path of working in the treatment industry. I knew if I would remain in that field that I wanted to move in something that was centered around business development and patient navigation. It’s the closest thing you can get to a pure sales role. I don’t have an office. I am constantly on the road for meetings with community partners. Lastly, I have gotten to meet a whole bunch of new people and have a ridiculous amount of fun. These roles are not for the faint of heart and clearly have a screw loose. I don’t know that many people that enjoy life on the road, but I do. Let’s just say I am built differently. That’s why gratitude is so important. It opens your mind and heart to a realm of possibilities.
Early on in treatment or recovery many old timers and seasoned folk tell you to be grateful for the things that your higher power provided. While I am not opposed to a higher power or incorporation of religion. I believe it's a way to center yourself and carry hope. I went to Catholic schools my entire life (Wooo! American Pope!). There are many lessons to be learned in prayer and belief. What I mean by that is karma has a way of guiding you in the right direction and showing you a path. I am not sure why, but that always makes me think of Bill and Ted’s excellent adventure.
Strange things are afoot at the Circle K….lol! Yes there’s a Bill and Ted joke. Think about that movie, and if you haven’t seen it don’t think we can be friends. The premise of the entire movie is two weirdos have to pass history class with a presentation. If they do not pass that class then their future is undetermined and could cause the world to dissent into madness. Similar to that idea of a snowball effect. One wrong move and you could end up owning a gator farm in Florida and missing numerous fingers, or you become Keanu Reeves. Positives and negatives to both scenarios. I don’t see much downside to becoming Keanu. The man’s inner circle of friends included Patrick Swayze (RIP). Checkmate!
First Concept: Gratitude can be a catalyst to success.
Second: A gratitude mindset can build resilience in uncertainty.
Lastly: Anchors us in the present moment.
I could tell 100 different stories related to the above concepts, but I need to make time for my Shaman this afternoon. There is serious concern about my aura becoming more blue. I thought “honesty is the best policy” was a simple concept. Apparently, I was wrong. I didn’t know that comparing people’s babies to famous world dictators was insensitive.
When I wrote the list of these concepts and the positive or negative effects, these three became the clear winners. I had to think back on my journey a bit, but these journal entries were very telling. Whenever my life was chaotic, it was rooted in a time of uncertainty and horrible depression. My mindset was short-term, pessimistic, and plain depressing. I know it is very difficult to remain optimistic when going through tough times, but even slight adjustments or accomplishing something small can start to remove that barrier. I was always so worried about my future and hyper-focused on fixing my life or issues that I missed out on a ton of great experiences. I took myself so seriously that having fun at company functions or embracing colleagues who could have been great friends was difficult. Instead of being thankful for the people and events in my life, I was attempting to ruin their careers and give myself a promotion. That’s how you end up alone and sad. I learned that lesson the hard way. I rode my ambition down to the gates of hell. It took a reminder, many years later, from a very close friend. He flat-out asked me to reflect on my journey and write down examples of happy times. It wasn’t very hard. I have traveled all over the world and the United States. I’ve created lasting relationships across the globe and have experienced things some people never get a chance to do. I still know folks who have never left their hometown. How do you grow as a person in that situation? After that brief exercise, it was crystal clear that I had a very privileged life. That is when I finally got the whole idea of gratitude.
I am not telling you to write a gratitude list every single day, but it can be a very healthy exercise to open your mind. I have good days and bad days like anyone. I remain much more optimistic than many of my friends and colleagues. It is a blessing to enjoy the present even if we have setbacks. Tomorrow is a new day, and a whole lot of things could happen. I don’t know about you guys, but if I woke up one day and was on The Price is Right, you best believe I’d try to win the showcase showdown and possibly steal a bunch of stuff from the set. That serves as a reminder to have a small slush fund in case I go to prison for grabbing a jet ski and heading down the 101 freeway.
