“Grateful is our mindset.”
Every single day, I spend 2-5 minutes reminding myself what I am grateful for. I usually do this in the morning while still in bed or shortly after getting up. I have been doing this for almost two years, and it has transformed my life. I strongly suggest you do the same and start your day with a list of 5 things you are grateful for. They don’t need to be complicated, and they can be the same every day, but just do it, and you will see that your perspective about everything will start to change.
For the last two days, I have kept my routine. I have reminded myself of my five each morning. Today, my family and team made a list; yesterday, it was having clean water to drink and air conditioning in my home. It’s always fun to think of 1 or 2 things that are not obvious because it helps me be even more grateful.
Although I kept my routine the last two days, I added to it. I am on a family vacation this week, and I have had more time than usual to reflect. I spent more time praying and reflecting than usual, and I found myself adding many things to my grateful list each day. It seems that my five every morning sometimes takes up to five minutes, but these last two days, I was able to think of a hundred things I am grateful for throughout the day.
I not only thought about “things” I am grateful for, but I also thought about relationships, situations, successes, failures, opportunities, freedoms, health, and so many others. It really changed my whole vibe. Suddenly nothing seemed to bother me, and everything seemed to be great. I even delivered my daily message Tuesday and reminded everyone that you are in control of your happiness and you should never let anyone convince you that you are not happy.
Then in one moment, everything changed. I received a text message from a work colleague, and I had to read it three times. It went something like this: “there was a shooting in a school, and many young children are dead.” I was in disbelief, and I immediately did a google search and was shocked to read the headlines. I saw the number of dead, and I saw “children,” and I stopped reading. I couldn’t even continue reading. I was definitely not happy anymore, and I asked God how this could happen as my faith temporarily left me.
As I said, I am traveling with my family this week, and because of Covid travel restrictions and having a college swimmer with no mid-winter or spring breaks, we have not been able to all be together on a trip in 4 years. I am so happy to spend time with my two children and remind them how much I love them and how proud I am of them. I was reminded today that the shooting victims’ parents wouldn’t have that chance.
It was a reality that made me so sad and brought me to tears. I used to take my kids to the bus stop or to school sometimes and drop them off and tell them I loved them and remind them to have a great day. I can’t even imagine doing that and never seeing them again. I hurt for the kids, I hurt for the parents, and I hurt for the world today.
Today I was reminded that life itself is what we should be grateful for.
Not just the good times in life but every single minute. We go through pain, failures, and hardship, but we are still here. We have made some mistakes and still have not achieved our dreams, but we can still keep trying. Many don’t have that choice, and every one of them would undoubtedly switch with us no matter what our situation is, just so they can have one more day.
One more day to say “I love you,” one more day to give someone a hug, one more day to smile and laugh, and one more day to see a beautiful sunset. Today I was reminded that I should be grateful to be alive above all else, and when that hit me, my faith in God returned, and I began to pray. I ask all of you to do the same. In moments like this, the good people of the world wonder, “what can I do to help” and right now, the short answer is to pray.
In the coming days, we may be able to help in other ways, and I am sure this tragedy will bring much debate and blame across our nation and the world. I pray that God brings healing and comfort to the families, and I pray that we all realize that it’s time for us to do something.
Many will say laws need to be changed, or certain equipment will need to be put in place to make sure this doesn’t happen again, and some of those things might help, but I say it’s time for the good people of the world to take the world back. What happened today was evil without a doubt, and the only way to combat evil is with love, not more evil.
It is our time, the time of the good people in the world, to take back our planet and start talking, doing, and rewarding the good that we see around us instead of being silent. Maybe if we all decided that we would not give evil any attention, then evil would change. I am in no way saying Tuesday’s tragedy should not be given attention, but I believe this event happened because there was love missing that could have prevented it, and that is something we all need to evaluate in our own homes.
I am grateful for another day today, and I am grateful that you have one too. The people that read this message every week are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends, coworkers, etc. to someone, so every single life affects so many more. Let’s be grateful today and every day that we have life. No matter the weather, what job we have, our bank account balance, or how many followers we have on social media. I know that I love you, and I want you to know that if you ever feel like nobody loves you or notices you, please know that I do.
My name is Gianni Licari, I don’t know everything, but I know I love you and that you matter to me, and if you ever need me to remind you of that, I can be reached on Instagram @ Gianni.licari through IG messenger.
I ask that you all pray in the coming days and remind yourselves what you are grateful for and how you can impact the world with more love. That’s what I am going to do, and I could surely use a lot of help.
I am grateful for you; thank you for reading.
