Thinking positive and being grateful for what you’ve got
The following thoughts were prompted by a story in the news today.
Muelmar Magallanes braved rampaging floods in a Manila riverside village to save more than 30 people, but ended up sacrificing his life in a last trip to rescue a baby girl and her mother who were being swept away on a polystyrene box.
Flood hero ‘gave his life for my baby’ | Sydney Morning Herald
One cannot help but feel small when confronted by Muelmar’s bravery and nobility. But that is also a good thing because hopefully any petty problems that you think you have should also pale in comparison to what less fortunate people are going through or have lost, and also to the selflessness of people like Muelmar everywhere.
There are people who don’t like watching or reading the news because it depresses them. Everyday, there are people who lose their lives or have tragedies befall upon them through war, crime, accidents and disasters, both man-made and natural, or they suffer due to disease or economic misfortune. Surely, none of that can be uplifting to one’s moods, right?
For me though, knowing about all the bad stuff in the world makes me thankful and grateful for everything that I’ve got. It also helps me in not losing track of what’s really important in life. Knowing what people go without on a daily basis, if they are lucky to survive everyday, it would be pretty obscene for me to complain about not having a warm female body to sleep next to. Though that’s exactly what’s been bothering me the past few weeks, if you’ve noticed.
So I hope you will agree with me when I say: no matter how down we get, our lives are actually very good in comparison. So stop dwelling on the negative, and choose to stay positive instead, and don’t take things for granted. I know I’ve said all of this before but it bears repeating. And don’t worry if it feels hard to stay positive at first, because even for a generally happy person like me it does take effort. 
5 Responses to “Thinking positive and being grateful for what you’ve got”
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Many of us spend way too much time worrying about trivial things but there’s nothing like a disaster (whether experiencing it or simply hearing about it), whether natural or man-made, to put things into perspective. While we are worrying about why that guy/girl hasn’t texted back, or getting shouted at by the boss, for others, life is a daily struggle to survive. Living in China, I have seen a lot of poverty and it makes me realise just how lucky I really am. Thanks for the positive post…lately, like you, I have been getting a bit emo over silly things that don’t really matter, and this post has really helped me put things in perspective! Keep up with the blogging, I’ve been reading for 4 years now and still haven’t lost interest!!
Yeah I think even generally positive people needs a little help from time to time to feel better.
And yup, it’s all about perspective.
I know what you mean. Even when life is going swimmingly well, sometimes I even try to find fault in little things. Thanks for the reminder!
Hey not a problem! Everyone can use a little spare positiveness from time to time. I don’t mind sharing mine.
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