It is Carnival here in Panama right now till Tues night and it is CRAZY here. So grateful to live in a country where the people are so warm and friendly.

I had a great conversation last week in San Francisco with a dear client and friend who is a medical doctor.  Some of her stories about how messed up her clients are, both physically and mentally, just blew my mind.  Makes me SO grateful for being in good health which is a blessing.  I truly get that.

I love the Stoic philosophy as talked about at Daily Stoic.  Check out this blurb from them:

“The Stoics saw gratitude as a kind of medicine, that saying ‘Thank you’ for every experience was the key to mental health. ‘Convince yourself that everything is the gift of the gods,’ was how Marcus Aurelius put it, “that things are good and always will be.”

Yes, it’s great to be thankful for the usual candidates: For our families, for our health and that we live in a time of peace (mostly).

But we should also be grateful for the less obvious things: For the setbacks, for the squabbling clients, for the stress they put on us and whatever other difficulties we might be experiencing. Why? Because we are only experiencing them because we are alive. 

Because they are a form of fuel for our lives. And as frustrating as they might be, it’s what Fortune chose for us and we might as well make the most of it.

Epictetus has said that every situation has two handles: Which are you going to decide to hold onto? The anger or the appreciation? The one of resentment or of thanks?

So as you are preparing for your week, remember to appreciate and give thanks for all the obvious and bountiful gifts that every moment presents. And even for that messed up escrow or that crazy ass client.

Just make sure that when the moment passes, you make gratitude a regular part of it. 

Again—not simply for what is easy and immediately pleasing, but for all of it.