Several months ago, for work, I had to go into areas of my state where there had been significant flooding. Some of the businesses I went into had suffered up to six feet of water inside their buildings. I know it can be challenging to imagine that amount of water in say, a Rite Aid. The damage it does goes so much further than just what is caused by things being destroyed because they got wet.

Being in the area as it was recovering from such a devastating disaster brought to my attention many things that I had never considered as effects of such events. I was informed by the employees of various stores that due to the cost of repair, their corporate offices had decided to just not re-open after the clean-up. Two of these locations were pharmacies that were in the same town. This left only one pharmacy for the entire town.

This is just one example of the knock-on effects of a natural disaster. I’m sure there are dozens more, but I hadn’t even considered that a business might just decide that it wasn’t worth the cost of rebuilding and abandon the people of the area. Especially when that business provides such a valuable service to the community.

More recently, the town I live in was struck by an F4 tornado that demolished many businesses and homes. I was in the basement of our house with my family when that vortex passed through. Fortunately, we were unscathed except for some minor hail damage to our vehicles.

It is a shame that it can take an event as catastrophic as these to get your attention. Both of these examples started me thinking about how fortunate I am. Not just that we didn’t suffer damage from the storms, but in many aspects of my life.

As I’ve been undertaking this mental health journey, I have seen in many resources that gratitude is a key to good mental health. At first, I didn’t understand how the two things would be related. What could saying a good thing that happened to me today possibly have to do with mental health? How does writing down that a person complimented me today impact my overall state of well-being?

Making this process of gratitude into a habit has indeed benefited my overall mood. It isn’t simply the act of writing down a nice thing that happened. You are training yourself to focus on and think about the positive things from your day. It subtly turns your thought processes to begin to pay more attention to those things than the negative. It has helped me to see that my days are, in fact, more good than bad.

Along with the daily gratitude, these natural disasters (which are occurring far too frequently) have even helped me to see how lucky I am in life overall. I have a loving wife, two amazing children, and a nice house. My life isn’t perfect by any measure, but it is far better than it could be.

We have holidays in America to instill this gratitude into our culture. Today, Memorial Day, is one such holiday. On this day, we reflect upon the sacrifices made by so many men and women of our armed services. Those who put their lives on the line and paid the ultimate price to protect the freedoms and ideals of our great nation. Please take a moment as you read this to be thankful for those outstanding individuals.

We also have other holidays that stress the importance of recognizing how fortunate we are. These include Thanksgiving, Labor Day, and Independence Day just to name a few.

I cannot recommend highly enough that if you are in a low place and feeling down, how beneficial this practice of daily gratitude can be. It may sound silly to you reading this, but just give it a try for thirty days and see if it helps you. Look for those positive things that occur throughout your day and record them. When you write them down, take a moment to truly appreciate them as well. Realize those things that are good and allow yourself to be truly grateful for them, no matter how small they may seem at first.

Today I am grateful for my family, the new friends I’ve made from streaming, and for those who served our country and fought for our liberties. I hope that you also find things to be thankful for today and every day.