Health is Wealth

 I think that sometimes we get so caught up in the ‘positivity’ movement that we become cold and insensitive to the true meaning and power of gratitude. Gratitude is not the same thing as optimism. Let’s take an example: you’ve had a long day at work, and your body is aching. Your work is overdue, your family is angry at you for various reasons, and you feel lonely. Optimism might have you saying: ‘hey! Look on the bright side: at least you have a job . Unlike your neighbour, at least you have a family and aren’t completely isolated. How cam you complain about being tired when you have a fully-functioning body? At least you don’t have cancer like other people!’.  This, my friends, is toxic positivity. Why ‘toxic’? In that moment, you don’t need a ‘cheerleader’. You don’t need to negate your emotions of distress, frustration, and sadness. You don’t need to focus on everything good in your life in order to ignore the difficult parts. Enter gratitude. In this situation, gratitude might ha