Getting Real About Gratitude Guilt

There’s often talk about productivity guilt, but something I’ve found myself faced with more often than I’d like to admit is gratitude guilt.

I admittedly get caught up a lot with the routine of everyday life — wake up, go to work, come home, go to sleep. I find myself wanting more, wishing more, stumbling on the not so pleasant moments in life. To be 100% honest, most days, I forget to take the amount of time I should to count my blessings and give God more than a passing nod.

While I’m glad I’m at least aware of this… shortcoming… we’ll call it, I struggle to find solid ways to resolve it for good.

Sure, it’s easy to tell someone to just “list 5 things you’re grateful for” or “start a gratitude journal,” as if applying those methods will simply destroy that underlying feeling.

My inner pessimist echoes inside my head that because of this, something bad is bound to happen. My inner realist says something bad is guaranteed to happen eventually, and my inner optimist assures that I’m trying my best. Yet, the heaviness of the guilt I feel for not feeling grateful enough for everything in my life — good and bad — is a real burden that’s been weighing me down.

It’s been proven countless times the most “happy” people are the most “grateful” people, but yet, we’re all human at the end of the day.

It makes sense why the words “gratitude” and “practice” are often referred to in the same breath.

Maybe taking the time to shed light on this topic is good enough. And maybe being self-aware that I can’t possibly be full of gratitude every second of the day and whatever effort I put in is good enough.

But hey, maybe it's just me.