Heather's Story - Finding Gratitude

Hi, my name is Heather, but I go by Jurny. I am 16 years old, but I have experienced so much tragedy and trauma in just 2 years.

First, at 13 years old, I found my dad dead on the floor of his bedroom. Then, at 14, my best friend killed herself, and I found out my grandma had a very bad form of cancer. Just a little after my 15th birthday, my grandma passed away.

After all this, I thought, "What the hell do I have to be grateful for?" I remembered my stepmom telling me this story about a man who hated his life.

He went to his preacher at church and said, "My life is so horrible." The preacher replied, "I'm so sorry your wife died." The man said, "What are you talking about? My wife did not die; she is in perfect health."

The preacher said, "Oh, I see. I am so sorry your house burned down." The man said, "What? No, my house is perfectly fine."

The preacher then said, "Well, I'm sorry your kid has cancer." The man responded, "What? My kid is fine; he does not have cancer." The preacher concluded, "So your life isn't that bad then, right? Look at how many things you have to be grateful for."

Initially, when my mom told me this story, I didn't think much of it. I just thought it was another stupid story my mom was trying to tell me to make me feel better.

But now, I have found the Gratitude app, and I really understand that story. Yes, I have lost a lot in my life, but I can't keep being stuck on that.

There are still things for me to be grateful for every single day. Now, I'm working on being more grateful every day, and the gratitude app has been a huge help.