News from the Noteworthy from Julie Dostal of LEAF

Embrace Gratitude in the Midst of Difficulties

Audacious gratitude: An intrepidly bold and daring willingness to appreciate even the smallest things of life in the face of difficult circumstances.

When I write guest blogs or guest editorials, I typically write as Julie Dostal, the executive director of LEAF. When I was asked to write this one, I decided it was important for me to write it as just me, Julie. I am a wife, sister, dog-mom, public speaker, problem-solver, musician, photographer, and a woman in long-term recovery from addiction.

It is that last piece of who I am that taught me about the wonders of audacious gratitude. I will tell you that there were times in my journey that if just one more of my recovering peers told me to write a gratitude list, I would have been tempted to throw the nearest solid object at them. Fortunately, I never did that. There was a lesson to be learned in the sage advice of those who cared about me. They were not telling me that I had to “feel” grateful, they were telling me that I had a choice to “be” grateful.

Wait a minute!?

I feel terrible. My circumstances are measurably terrible. I feel like huge parts of my life are terrible. And you want me to “be” grateful? (Insert a huff and tightly folded arms at this point.)