GreatFull

A new way to think about thanks: It’s great to feel full, and when you do, life is fully great.

Puns aside, we can accept more — more dessert, more money, more love — when it is offered to us, but that’s not what, fundamentally, gratitude is about.

It’s easy to be thankful when life throws unexpected gifts in your lap. The important habit, the real challenge, is recognizing we are already full on a regular basis. That we don’t need the extra to begin with.

Full means enough, and “enough” is a matter of definition. By extension, so is “great.” Lower the demands, and curb expectations. Look at what’s already there. Call it by name, and chances are, appreciation will almost automatically follow.

Great, full, and grateful as a result. Life isn’t all punshine and rainbows, but nearly all growth happens in semantics — and you are telling the story.

Nik

Niklas Göke writes for dreamers, doers, and unbroken optimists. A self-taught writer with more than a decade of experience, Nik has published over 2,000 articles. His work has attracted tens of millions of readers and been featured in places like Business Insider, CNBC, Lifehacker, and many others. Nik has self-published 2 books thus far, most recently 2-Minute Pep Talks. Outside of his day job and daily blog, Nik loves reading, video games, and pizza, which he eats plenty a slice of in Munich, Germany, where he resides.