This morning whilst I was under the shower I thought how grateful I am to have hot water. This started me thinking about what I can be grateful for. How grateful I am to have clean water to drink. How grateful I am to have enough water to use on the garden. How grateful I am to have a washing machine to wash our clothes and how grateful I am to be born in Australia.
Often when I’m unwell with depression and anxiety I forget about the many things that I can be grateful for. When I’m unwell I tend to focus on myself and how sick I am. I look at life from a narrow, negative point of view. I know that this perspective is not helpful and serves only to feed my depression so I have to try to turn my thinking around.
I try very hard to shift my focus to things I am grateful for. Doing this is hard, very hard because when I’m depressed my thoughts are overwhelmingly negative. However, I have discovered over time that if I focus my mind on positive thoughts I am better able to follow through with helpful thoughts and actions.
If you find yourself anxious and depressed remind yourself constantly of the many things you can be grateful for. You will find that doing this will help you to stay focused on all the positives things in your life.
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