“You should be grateful” is a phrase you may tell yourself sometimes, or you may hear it from others. On the surface, it seems harmless enough. After all, gratitude is a virtue. But the unspoken message behind it is often “You should be grateful instead of feeling upset.” That kind of message easily leads to shame: “I’m a bad person because of the way I feel.”
But gratitude doesn’t have to be so invalidating. You’re allowed to feel upset. You don’t have to celebrate the heartbreaking moments in life in order to be grateful, and you don’t have to ignore them either.
True gratitude isn’t a ban on all difficult emotions, it’s just a way of balancing out what we feel. When feeling depressed or angry, it can be easy to forget the positive things in life and fall into despair. Practicing gratitude is a way to keep us from forgetting the things we actually do enjoy. It reminds us that even when times are hard there are still good things in life. Even when we feel upset, there’s still hope.
For more information, contact summer@eastdallastherapy.com.
