I Wrote Down Something I Was Grateful For Every Day For 8 Days, and Here's What Happened

Updated on 10/9/2017 at 4:45 AM

POPSUGAR Photography | Zareen Siddiqui

You know when you're in a black hole of b*tching to your friends/family/anyone who will listen about the most mundane things, and someone responds to your complaints with "it could always be worse" (which is probably the last thing you want to hear while you're complaining)? We are a society of complainers; we complain on social media, we complain to our colleagues, and we even make friends by way of complaining.

I decided I was done complaining (LOL, yeah right), at least for a week. I woke up every day and wrote down something I was grateful for. It sounds ubercheesy and you might be rolling your eyes as you read this, but let me tell you, I had a pretty f*cking good week. I woke up every morning and was forced to focus on something positive, and I also learned that I am grateful for a variety of strange and specific things. No judgments, please.

Day 1: I'm grateful that the majority of my problems have solutions.

You may or may not be thinking this a very deep thought . . . (spoiler alert: it wasn't). I woke up on this glorious Summer day in New York in a sweat to find my window AC unit had given out at some point in the night. I quickly began to flip out and felt as if my life was over. Of course, before calling the AC company, I texted a few lucky folks in my phone book to let them know my life was over, one of whom was my father, who, TBH, had no time for my nonsense and told me exactly what I wanted to hear at 6 a.m.: "Stop calling me about things you can fix yourself." Thanks for the inspo, Dad!

Day 2: I'm grateful for our Game of Thrones chatroom.

If you are one of the approximately 10 million people who tune in to the world of Westeros every Sunday night, I wish you could also be a part of this glorious chatroom. My coworkers and I get to dissect each episode every Monday morning, and it's what I live for. We have all the opinions about all the things, and we are deeply invested in many of the storylines. Or we just want to see someone get killed (cough Littlefinger cough). Yes, this is for work; yes, it's real; yes, I love these people a lot.

Day 3: I'm grateful for the amount of Bitmoji my mom uses.

Isn't it always so weird when our parents do things we do? Example: use Bitmoji. I have no idea why I laugh out loud every time my mom sends me a very thoughtfully created Bitmoji, but I do. I now find myself copying her strong Bitmoji game often.

Day 4: I'm grateful for 1997 and the song "Feel So Good" by Mase.

I know this is a weird thing to be grateful for, but I don't really care. My love for this song is, frankly, absurd, yet I am not ashamed at all. Don't you have a song that can get you out of a sour mood no matter what? That's what this song does for me. Also, it's just a great f*cking tune. Mase, please come back.

Day 5: I'm grateful for fun Friday nights and Drake.

This is pretty self-explanatory. I find no reason to go into detail, and also, I plead the fifth.

Day 6: I'm grateful for doughnuts.

Is there ever a bad time for doughnuts? Don't answer that.

Day 7: I'm grateful that at 27 my dad is still my alarm clock.

This is the cheesiest thing on this list; I was having a moment. My dad is a rock star, and as many kids who live in different states from their families can understand, little exchanges with your parents mean a lot, especially as you get older. I, for one, am #blessed that the first person I talk to every morning is my favorite guy on the planet.

Day 8: I'm grateful my best friend is having a baby.

I am over the moon and so ready to be the ultimate "cool aunt." It's crazy how much your friendships change as you grow up. You have your family and friends, and you love them so much. But once you find out they're going to have a tiny human, they really take an immediate backseat (sorry Jac). I'm also an only child, which is another reason I have ALL the feelings in this particular situation.