Skills and Strategies—Attitude of Gratitude

“When eating bamboo sproutsremember the man who planted them.” Chinese Proverb

I think when stuck in the depths of depression we tend to filter our view and only see the bad things in our lives. Part of the insidious nature of depressive illnesses is that it sucks away your the hope and positivity. Without hope and positivityrecovery is a million times harder. The focus is so much on the negative things in our lives—past traumapoor self-esteemeating disordersself-harmetc. that we filter out what is good in our lives and in ourselves.

But youIindeed everyone can turn this around. A change in attitude. An attitude of gratitude! Sorather than directing our energy and attention to what is wrong in our lives try focusing on what is good and positive. Sometimes it takes time to find something but if you look deep enough I'm sure there will be something good.

I start each day with listing at what I am grateful for in my life: friendsfamilyanything that puts a smile on my face. It helps bring some positivity into my day. On days that I am particularly down on myself I like to list what I am grateful about me.

My Gratitude list

1. my handy-woman skills
2. my ability to cook awesome food
3. my kindness
4. my willingness to help others
5. my childlike nature
6. my ability to lean new things
7. my love of learning
8. my silliness
9. my strength
10. my resilience
11. my will to fight
12. my dreams
13. my love of funny things
14. my ability to see beauty in unlikely places
15. my optimism about others
16. my growing ability to love myself and take me as I am

If I am having a "I hate my body" dayI like to think about the things about my body I am grateful for.

I am grateful for

• my lovely hair
• my strong legs
• my feminine figure
• my multi-coloured nails

So lets bring on an attitude of gratitude and search for the positive that is there in everyone :)