Finding Gratitude During Hard Times

I grew up with a mom who who grew up with a mom that practiced radical gratitude or stiff upper lip. “Be grateful for what you have because there’s always someone worse off” 

Thankfully the message was filtered a little bit, but my mother believed in seeing the good. Sometimes I would roll my eyes. The dryer broke, but we should thankful that the weather is nice enough to hang the clothes outside.  A surprise bill? Thank goodness we have the money to pay it this week. My mom taught me to see when things worked together for good.

Without realizing it, it trained my brain to believe that a solution could be found, that we would make it through any situation, and even in the darkest times there is beauty to be found. That’s been needed during various times in my life: losing everything in Hurricane Katrina, a heartbreaking divorce, the grief of losing loved ones, going through the roller coaster of IVF, a life threatening miscarriage, our daughter’s genetic diagnosis. We celebrate the mini milestones of making it through another day that gets us closer to the previous norm. We are thankful for the professionals who have helped and the people who we wouldn’t have met otherwise. Most importantly I try to take a look at the lessons I wouldn’t have learned had I not gone through these experiences. 

Maybe there’s a little bit of my grandmother’s “be thankful for everything” genes that have been passed down. My 4 year old told someone over the summer “We’re lucky to live on Cape Cod. Everyone wants to be here. Even the traffic comes to Cape Cod.” 

Happy Thanksgiving. Be Thankful. 

About Rebecca Romo

Rebecca Romo hosts Feel Good Mornings weekday mornings from 6-10 am on 99.9 The Q. Originally from New Orleans, she moved to Cape to be with her husband a second generation Cape Codder.



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