For Granted or For Gratitude
Life is busy, stressful, and hectic, and it can be really easy to take things for granted when it feels like something is always going wrong, you fail to see what’s going
right. Even when things are going well, people still overlook some of the most important things in their lives.
So, what are some things we should never take for granted?
Here are some things I commonly see clients take for granted:
- Time
- Our health
- Our families
- Opportunities presented to us
Never take time for granted
Time is undefeated. We will never get a minute or a day back. If we understand this, we might stop taking time for granted.
There are two ways that people take time for granted.
The first one is ignoring our time in a day and saying things like, “I don’t have time.” News Flash…We all have the same 24 hours daily, but many of us do not make the most out of that time. We don’t make time for important things like exercise, self-care, learning, and spending time with those who matter to us. Assuming you sleep for 8 hours a day, that leaves 16 hours to live your life. We might spend eight of those hours at work, but what about the other 8?
I know it is really easy just to sit and binge watch a TV show or scroll for hours on social media but there are many other ways to spend our time.
You could take an hour to go for a walk or get some other exercise in. Cooking a nice healthy meal or meal prepping is a great way to spend time with your family and care for your health.
That still leaves plenty of hours to read about a topic that interests us or learn a new skill, take on a hobby.
There is time to get together with a friend and have a good time.
These are acts of self-care, which are essential for our mental and physical health.
The second way we take time for granted is by thinking we have an endless supply of it.
We do not. We are ALL born to die! Read that again. And as we age, we have less years ahead of us than we have behind us.
I had a 38-year-old cousin whose wife was pregnant, and he died of a stroke. This young couple weren’t thinking about planning a funeral they were planning a baby shower.
Do you have something you want to see or do in this life? Stop putting it off, thinking you will do it later. There might not be a later. Instead, make a goal and work toward it the best you can. If you have dreams, go for them!
Live each day as if time is precious.
I know so many of us are used to showing up late for the gym mostly because we wanted some extra sleep. When we constantly show up late for things, it tells us a lot about ourselves. Lack of commitment, respect, and organization. These clients don’t often have the best results. Committing to being on time shows that you respect yourself and others. Make being on time a priority, you will accomplish more.
Our health shouldn’t be taken for granted either
We never know what battle we might have to face, Covid showed us that. Every person knows someone with cancer and when we hear one of our favorite celebrities passed away, we are shocked and surprised because although death is inevitable it is mostly unexpected.
From personal experience life has taught me how our fully functioning bodies could fail. I went from celebrating my 45th birthday party to two days later being hospitalized for weeks from a small bowel obstruction secondary to me having a myomectomy 4 years prior (fibroids removed).
Our health can change instantly, whether it is something like cancer or a car accident with devastating consequences.
I promised myself that I would be much more grateful for good health and not just assume that my body would function optimally for as long as I wanted it to.
Families can be messy but don’t take them for granted
As we embark on Mother’s Day, this weekend will be filled with many ways to celebrate with our moms. There will also be many broken hearts missing their moms.
When we have our moms/parents/siblings/ we often take them for granted because they might harass and annoy us sometimes. But when they are not around, we regret not having had enough time with them. So, if your family is loving (although irritating) and not toxic, try not to take them for granted, love them.
Spending an entire life with some people can be exasperating, but if they have your back and care about you, then be grateful you have them.
As an ER/trauma nurse manager, when a person passed away from something especially if it was unexpected, accident, gunshot, fire, I had to address the family along with the physician to let them know their loved one passed. I would hear their guilt for not being there for them, thinking they would always be around, or years of not speaking to them over an argument that happened years ago. The tears flowed louder and deeper when that relationship was taken for granted and not with gratitude.
Every day is a new day full of opportunities
Every day you wake up and are alive is another chance to live the life you want. It doesn’t have to be a repeat of yesterday.
Our days are filled with choices we make, chances we take, or things we pass up. Don’t take the things that happen in a day or the choices you have made or must make for granted.
A single choice can change your world; you never know how it will work out.
Fifteen years ago, when I wrote my letter to the hospital administrators to see if I could start a Bootcamp for the healthcare providers to get them into shape, I never dreamed I would be the owner of a successful gym. I did not know it would play out this way, but I am so grateful. It opened my eyes to how many things we miss in our hurry to get through the day. When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.
I laid a road map out to help clients reach their health and fitness goals. Whether it is losing weight, coming off medication or getting into a happier state. It’s an easy map but not a short map. Because many of us are impatient we often take education (CPR classes, newsletter), mentoring (nutritional meal plan feedback) and tools being supplied (IV therapy, yoga classes, supplements) for granted.
One of our midpoint biggest losers Brandi lost 15.1 lbs. fat loss and 5.8% bodyfat in just 3 weeks. Brandi has never lost much in past camps, and I have witnessed discouragement in her eyes. I asked her what she did differently this round. She said, “You keep talking about eating more calories to lose weight however in the past I was always taught to diet, so I didn’t trust it. This go round I ate more, pushed myself harder in my exercises, showed up for myself every day and I lost weight. Brandi didn’t take my advice for granted and decided to stop taking herself for granted.
You only get one body, one life, don’t take it for granted, be grateful for all that you have and live a life of gratitude. No Mess
