Taryn's Story - My journey towards true gratitude
"I was being ungrateful because I wanted more."
I am no perfect human being, in fact, I have made too many mistakes to ever think of myself as such.
However, I am a work-in-progress human being and I am constantly learning and growing as I am making mistakes.
Throughout my life, I have always been aware of how blessed I am even though I did not come from money.
We are middle-class people which means that both my parents earn an income and that we are able to make a decent middle-class life out of that.
I know what it is like to not grow up in a big house where I have my own room, but I don't know what it is like to go a day without food.
My parents always went above and beyond to make things possible for us. My brother and I attended schools that catered to all our educational needs and had enough resources.
However, that caused me to grow up around people whose parents have money.
Children who live in big houses and have their own rooms!
Whenever I would go visit them I remember wishing that this could be me. That I could have my own room in a big house with my rich family.
To be fair that is the only thing I always desired, my own room.
As I grew older I think the desire for my own room increased especially because I was used to sharing a room with my brother.
This desire led me to question and feel sad for myself for not being born into money.
Thinking back about it now I realized how petty and ungrateful I was because life is not about who has their own rooms or not, or who has the biggest house or not.
To be fair, I was young back then and that is what success was for me. A big house and your own room. I was being ungrateful because I wanted more.
I desired more and I was in this battle with God.
However, over the years I have come to realize that life is more than just a big house with your own room.
Life is what we make out of it and our perspective toward it.
What I never realized back then is that I am richer than most people because I had and have so much to be grateful for already.
I have a roof over my head, food on the table, and both my parents. I have wonderful siblings and a big family.
That in itself makes me rich - not money.
No money in the world can come near to the riches of life that cannot be bought.
My life changed when I stopped wanting and started appreciating what I already have.
It took me a moment to understand this because I was so young and did not always know best. But I know now.
I realized the importance of gratitude when I saw that people in big houses are unhappy in their own rooms.
I realized the importance of gratitude when I interacted with people who have lost their parents.
I realized the importance of gratitude when I saw young children growing up in horrible conditions where no one cares and they have to live on the streets to eat.
I realized the importance of gratitude when I stopped looking at my life through closed lenses.
My eyes are open now and I'm grateful. For everything.
Even the things that I do not have. Because when I look around me I know that I have enough, especially because I have God.
This gratitude applies has been the ultimate best and has helped me in becoming more aware and grateful. I am forever blessed.
