Our perspective on life can sometimes be distorted by focusing too much on the negatives, and "sweating the small stuff". But the remedy is not as far off or as difficult as we may think - often all it takes is a shift in what we choose to dwell upon.

Did you ever hear a very young child pray? Small children’s prayers are usually prayers of gratitude, pure and simple. They thank God for their food, their home, their parents, the sun in the sky. I know of one child that thanks God for chocolate because he loves chocolate.

Perhaps we adults should use this example of prayer to practice gratitude each day. We need to remind ourselves that we have much for which to be grateful.

Do you take it as a given that you have food, a home and other basic needs? According to World Food Programme statistics, more than 60 percent of chronically hungry people are women and 1.02 billion people do not have enough to eat - more than the populations of USA, Canada and the European Union.

When was the last time you appreciated the sky? Clouds are beautiful, especially when they are slowly moving across the sky.

Rainy days are beautiful. Generally, a rainy day is described as a bad day. There is nothing bad about rain. We would perish without it. Remember Ethiopia and many other drought stricken countries? Perhaps you have lived through a drought. The next time it rains, receive it with gratitude for the green life around us. Think about the farmers’ crops. Take a moment to reflect on how the rain feeds the earth and keeps us alive.

Do you have family members that annoy you? Find yourself complaining about a relative that means well but doesn’t know when to back off? Why not change your way of looking at the situation? You have a family. In this country there are double-orphaned children (both parents are dead) that assume responsibility for their younger siblings. If you have a family that annoys you from time to time, it’s not a big deal in the whole scheme of things.

Be grateful that you have loved ones and that you are not alone in this world. I believe for some people loneliness is so prominent it’s like a disease. There is a multitude of people suffering from loneliness, particularly the elderly.

Not grateful for your job? Have you checked the unemployment rate lately? Paid any attention to the number of people that lost their homes during the recent economic downturn? Thought about the parents that can’t feed their children because they don’t have income?

If you have your health, a family, the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter, then you are better off compared to many people on this planet.

Life gets hard sometimes and our perspectives can be distorted. When you find that you are burdened by life’s diversions, think like a small child prays; think of basic things with a heart of gratitude.

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