60 Big And Small Things To Be Grateful For Every Day [Even When Things Are Tough]5 min read

It is easy to find yourself engulfed by hate, dread, or regret as you complain, fear, or reminisce about something bad in the present, future, or past. Whilst those responses and reactions are natural and normal, they are not always productive or healthy for you.

You might have been told about the many benefits of gratitude, and how the habit of gratitude changes your life, but still find yourself struggling to think of things to be grateful for.   

That is why in this short post, I will quickly list 60 things you can always fall back on and be grateful for (even when things are tough).

60 Things to be grateful for every day

1. Your physical health – the proper and ceaseless functioning of your kidneys, bladder, skin, liver, heart, and so on that keeps you alive.
2. Your mental health – which enables you to function optimally.
3. Your physical looks – which add to your confidence and social perception.
4. Your skillset – which keeps you confident and helps you earn money.
5. Your mind – which is creative, quick to grasp information, and great at simplifying complex ideas, etc.
6. Your hands and fingers – which enable you to do various tasks.
7. Your eyes – which enable you to see the world.
8. Your nose – which enables you to smell the world.
9. Your tongue – which enables you to taste.
10. Your skin – which enables you to feel sensations.
11. Your immune system – which keeps you safe from diseases and illness.
12. Your respiratory system – which enables you to breathe.
13. Your digestive system – which enables you to eat and nourish yourself.
14. Your excretory system – which saves you from wastes and toxins.
15. Your muscular system – which enables you to move.
16. Your skeletal system – which holds everything within you in place.
17. Your upbringing – which has enabled you to adjust to society.
18. Your parents – who taught, protected, and provided for you.
19. Your siblings – who made (and still continue to make) you feel accepted, loved, and safe.
20. Your friends – who offer you friendship and support.
21. Your neighbours – who, at least, didn’t cause (much) trouble.
22. Your colleagues – who lighten your burden and make things work.
23. The kids – who force you to see things afresh and from new perspectives.
24. The teachers – who taught you all the academic things you know, but most importantly how to teach yourself.
25. The religious leaders – who imbibed morals and ethics into you and others; many of which you (may) still respect and live by.
26. The health professionals – who have been saving you from various health issues since you were conceived.
27. The farmers – who made sure you do not starve.
28. The Engineers – who imagined, built, and improved the technologies we have today.
29. The government – who made laws that have (so far) kept our society peaceful.
30. The armed forces – who stand between us and the worst of our nature daily.
31. The entertainers – who make life not just bearable but enjoyable.
32. The artists – who fill the world with beauty and wonder.
33. The road and transport companies – who make travelling possible.
34. Your classmates – who made you compete and collaborate.
35. The people you admire – who often forced you to upgrade yourself.
36. The plants – which produce oxygen, check erosion, and serve as food.
37. The animals – who eat the plants, and also serve as food.
38. The oxygen in the air – that enables us to breathe.
39. The sunlight – that is the source of energy and life.
40. Gravity – that keeps us standing on the earth.
41. The earth’s ozone layer – that saves us from deadly radiation.
42. The earth’s magnetosphere – that saves us from cosmic rays and charged solar particles.
43. Satellites – that make worldwide networks possible.
44. The internet – which has made unlimited information easily accessible.
45. Money – which has made transactions much easier.
46. Clocks – which help us keep track of the passage of time.
47. Calendars – which help us keep track of the passage of days, seasons, and years.
48. Computers and Artificial Intelligence – which has made thinking and creating so much easier.
49. Electricity – that powers our technology.
50. Petroleum – which powers our machines.
51. Fertilizers – which have made growing plants continuously possible.
52. Houses – where we can take shelter from harsh weather.
53. The support of nature – which keeps us alive and thriving.
54. The beauty of nature – which keeps us awestruck.
55. Clean water – which keeps us from dying of thirst.
56. Education – which gives us the tools to tackle life.
57. Kind strangers – who renew our hope and joy.
58. The wisdom of our elders – which saves us time and saves us from mistakes.
59. Good books filled with wisdom and insight – which help us do better.
60. The ceaseless approach of death – which makes every moment valuable.

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”

– Robert Brault

Conclusion: I’ve found gratitude in the strangest of places.

A few weeks (months?) after my Dad passed, I kept having these lucid dreams of him still being alive. Some mornings I woke up genuinely thinking Dad made it – that he recovered; heck! that he rose from the dead, and that he was in the parlour waiting.

The intensity of the dreams didn’t dampen until one day, in another of my lucid dreams, I saw him ALIVE – but in the worse imaginable shape. He was pale, withered, drooling, and, in fact, DISGUSTING. That imagery was so vivid it got etched onto my cranium. It was the absolute worse and heartbreaking sight I’ve ever beheld. 

And, when I woke up that morning. All I felt was gratitude that he had died instead of being condemned to such a vegetative state.

When my friend got kidney stones and almost lost her life, I developed a greater appreciation for my kidneys. Most times it all feels like nothing until it is too late.

If you are alive today, be EXCEEDINGLY GRATEFUL of whatever good there is in your life. Find it. Acknowledge it. Appreciate it. Protect it. Improve it. Be Grateful for it. 

Be grateful every day, because there is always something to be thankful for.