I tried gratitude writing for the first time after dismissing it as stupid for years.
Now I understand why it's essential.
First thing I wrote surprised me:
I'm grateful for my job for the replenishable resources it provides.
That was the obvious part. The surprise came next:
It doesn't give me purpose now and the meaning is absent, but then I wrote: I'm thankful even for that.
It grants me the ability and an undeniable motivation to construct my own meaning.
Gratitude reframes liabilities into assets.
The list kept turning things upside down.
I jot down friends and peers, not just for their support & nudges I needed the most.
But also for their flaws that served as a masterclass in what not to do.
Gratitude uncovers the hidden value in every relationship.
Finally, I wrote down politics and world events. That seems absurd, doesn't it?
Horrible events are just that: horrible.
But I am grateful for the chaos itself.
Not for the suffering, but for the raw, unfiltered complexity of it. It fascinates me.
The chaos is the fundamental state of humanity, a perpetual engine of conflict and narrative.
To reject any part of it — even the bad — is to ignore the essential source material of all philosophy, art, and innovation.
A stable, peaceful world would be pleasant, but it would not demand a thing from you.
Chaos is a gym for critical thinking.
It forces you to pick a side, defend an idea, or reject a narrative.
It isn't about approving of the world's state either;
It's embracing the dynamic nature of it as the only environment where true thought and creation are possible.
Gratitude finds utility in chaos.
On the surface, it seems like blind positivity.
But this audit makes you see value in the good, the bad, the ugly and meaningless.
The blessings themselves are not the point.
You stop seeing your life as a series of random events and start seeing it as a portfolio of assets, lessons, and leverage points.
That is why it's essential. Gratitude isn't a passive emotion; it's the most active form of strategic thinking.