Last week for Thanksgiving I spoke about gratitude. Specifically how we can be grateful for the challenges in our life as well as the blessings. I want to keep the gratitude train rolling this week and dive into this topic a little more.

One of my favorite lessons that I learned from Oprah (and I’ve learned many lessons from Oprah) is to say “Thank you” when you are faced with a challenge or disappointment in your life. This may seem odd, to say thank you when you are in the throws of anger, frustration, or even tears, but hear me out. By saying these two words even when you don’t feel grateful (especially when you don’t feel grateful) you begin to transform the situation. Saying thank you means that you are acknowledging that even though things feel pretty shitty right now you know that there is some good that will come from this.

My old roomie and I started practicing this concept after admittedly too many Friday nights home watching Oprah’s 20th Anniversary boxed dvd set. We both worked in a rather stressful environment where we were met with new challenges and frustrations every day. So we decided instead of just bitching about our problems after work we would start saying thank you instead. And amazingly it worked!

It’s not that our problems completely went away but our perspective on them changed. Instead of seeing something as a major set back in my life I began to see it as an opportunity for growth. And when I was in the midst of my own personal crisis saying thank you brought a sense of comfort through the tears. It gave me hope and faith that even though I was really hurting in the moment there was a greater purpose at play. And many times saying thank you gave me the immediate insight I was searching for. It would suddenly be clear to me why this “problem” was happening, and I began to see it as a blessing in disguise instead.

Saying thank you is now a habit for me. Whenever I am faced with an upsetting situation I immediately start looking for the silver lining, for the lesson,  or for the breakthrough. Because it’s always there, even though it may stay hidden for awhile. But saying thank you assures me that the blessing is on the way.

So try this next time life throws you a curve ball and see what happens. You might not receive the blessing immediately but I guarantee you will feel lighter and more hopeful.

I’ve always loved the quote from Dolly Parton that relates to this situation perfectlyY “If you want to see the rainbows, you gotta put up the rain.” We all want to see the rainbows in life, but lets remember that the most beautiful rainbows are only formed after a whole lot of rain.

Say thank you to the storms in your life and wait for the rainbow to appear, because it will always appear if you are willing to look for it.