5 Day Positive/Thankful Challenge

So three days ago, my friend challenged me or tagged me if you will, to do this 5 day positive challenge. The rules are simple... for the next 5 days, share with the world three things you are thankful for. This challenge is starting to get popular on facebook and is brings a different dynamic to the pictures and posts you typically see on facebook. Being thankful for what you have is a very good thing, so why do people need to be challenged to be thankful or positive for that matter???

Being positive and thankful seem like a really hard thing to do. We have to be constantly reminded to say "thank you" or to look at the brighter side of things. We are told to not complain and just be grateful. Sometimes it seems really difficult to be positive and thankful when nothing seems to be going your way. In fact, I found it difficult to list three things I was thankful for last night and that made me question myself. I had to force myself to stop and reflect. I started to list a bunch of things and continued to cross them out if they weren't "big enough" to share. I totally missed the point of the challenge and just turned something that was intended to be reflective and encouraging into something fabricated and self-serving.

Often times, we feel that in order to get people to listen to hear what we have to say, we need a "big" story. We need something that will get their attention and tug at their emotions. But that isn't always the case. Our lives are not like movies with crazy plots, heroes and heroines.  Our lives are probably not as epic as that and that's okay! We look so far out to find crazy extreme unique stories that we forget to pay attention to the little things in life. We are so focused on trying to get to class in time that we forget to say thank you when someone opens the door for you, or we are so focused on ourselves that forget the people we meet along the way to where we want to go. So I want to encourage you all to look up from yourself and look around you. Don't look for something but just observe the things right in front of you. Look at what you have and be thankful. I believe there is always something to be thankful for. Be it amazing friends, great conversations, a good experience,quiet time, a good lunch, or even just being able to wake up in the morning and start a new day, there is always something to be grateful for. So SMILE and keep pushing through and don't forget to always count your blessings.

-Charlie

Smile. Be positive. Be thankful.