Choosing Gratitude: Shifting the Focus from What’s Wrong to What’s Right By Tarica Hillman, LICSW

This week, one theme keeps showing up for me—gratitude.

It’s so easy to focus on what isn’t going well: the problems, the pressure, the mistakes. We get caught up in the challenges and forget to acknowledge the moments that are actually working in our favor. I’ll admit it—I do this too. I’ve spent time ruminating on the things that felt heavy, overlooking the quiet good that was still present.

But I’m learning to shift that.

I’m making a conscious effort to see the good, even when it feels like it’s hiding behind the chaos. And I want to challenge you to try the same. Start small. Ask yourself:

• What was the highlight of my day?

  
  

• What am I grateful for today?

  
  

• What made me smile, even for a moment?

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You might be surprised how quickly your perspective can shift. Gratitude doesn’t mean ignoring the hard things—it means not letting them consume all the space. It means not getting stuck in the spiral of what we lack, how we messed up, or what we’re still waiting for.

Instead, it’s about recognizing what we do have—support, growth, strength, moments of joy. It’s about reframing setbacks as lessons instead of failures.

And listen, even though I prioritize gratitude now, I still get overwhelmed. I still feel like some things are too big, too much. That’s when I lean into positive self-talk. I hype myself up the way I would hype up a friend. I break down the big stuff into smaller, doable pieces—because it’s easier to face one small challenge than something that feels completely unmanageable.

Gratitude and self-kindness aren’t magic fixes. But they’re powerful tools. They soften the edges of our hardest days. They remind us of our resilience.

So today, I’m choosing gratitude. Not because everything is perfect, but because something is still good—and that deserves to be seen.

Will you join me?