gratitude

Before I moved to college, I always desired to explore other cities, states, and countries other than Alaska. I was determined to leave my home state once I turned 18. I felt stuck, bored, and honestly took any opportunity I could get to visit new places, especially when it came to picking my college, the next chapter of my life. That all changed when I moved to college. It’s funny because the main conversations I have in college are about Alaska. Who knew that when everyone asks where you are from,  that’s a 20 minute rabbit trail into questions about how it’s is like in Alaska. Something I perceived as my home and normal others perceived as a beautiful place on this earth. I always tell them, it’s different when you live there but they all still long to visit the Last Frontier. That opened my eyes to how perspective really affects your gratitude for something. If I haven’t lived in Alaska my whole life, I probably would’ve have viewed it like everyone else does. However, the Lord works according to His will and revealed how blessed I am. I thank Him everyday for that because coming back home after my first year of college allowed me to view my home in a new lens and see the excitement everyone else feels. Something like a hike up one of the Chugach Mountains with my family that I do every year is now a marvelous one of a kind view of my city 

breathing the fresh air 

feeling the cool wind on my face & 

seeing how God created 

His people - the hikers, the mountain racers, the company by my side  

His creatures - the bears, moose, bumblebees

His creation - the glaciers, the lakes that are so blue, the trees, the bushes, the fireweed surrounding me 

it all cohesively allows you to enjoy the journey to the destination. 

God allowed me to be filled with gratitude this summer and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I have so many opportunities on this earth but I know my home is where I long to always be and it makes me ever more excited to go back every summer, every winter, and any other break I can get. 

I could not have said the same thing a year ago because I didn’t have the thankfulness and gratefulness I felt when I came back and that all has to do with perspective, so before one looks at a situation in their normal lens, remember to try looking from another perspective cause a small change in mind changes everything. 

God helped me do that and He can help you too.