A few years ago, I spent two weeks in Ghana with underprivileged children teaching them English. Well, that was the premise of my trip. I think those children taught me more than I taught them. Ghana is severely impoverished with many people living in shacks and driving on dirt roads, if they can afford a vehicle. Electricity is intermittent and hot running water is a luxury. Yet in all my years on this planet, I have never witnessed so much joy.

Where does that joy come from? I believe it comes from being thankful for what you have, from being grateful. It has been said that gratitude is the birthplace of joy, that people who are grateful for what they have are happier than people who lament what they do not have. So often people living with mental illness and substance use disorder fall into a downward spiral when they think about what they do not have … the perfect job, a fancy house, a newer car. But what would happen if instead of focusing on what we do not have, we were grateful for what we do have? What if we paused throughout our busy days to be thankful for little things, like the birds singing, our morning coffee, good music on the radio during our commute to work?

It is true that not every day is good, but it also is true that there is good in every day. Maybe the only good thing that happened to you today is that you had a really good cup of coffee or that your hair turned out just right or that you had a chance to chat with a friend or loved one if even for a few brief minutes. Right there are three good things that happened to you. If we could teach ourselves to be grateful for the little good things that happen to us during the day, we open ourselves up to be more joyful, to have a more joyful heart.

Gratitude is the birthplace of joy and becoming more joyful takes practice. Perhaps at the end of each day, before settling into your comfortable bed you could jot down three to five good things that happened to you during the day. Be grateful for those things. Try doing this every night before bed, even if it is just a mental note. The more we become grateful for the good in our lives, the more joyful we will become, the more our hearts will become joyful.