When What You Once Hoped and Prayed For Becomes Normal!

10 hours ago
6 min read

Have you ever stopped to think about how quickly something you once hoped and prayed for can become something you barely notice?

Last week, I wrote about the joy of looking forward to something.

My gratitude thought was:

I am grateful that I can enjoy something twice, because sometimes I experience joy while looking forward to it and again when it actually happens.

I loved that thought because it reminded me that joy doesn’t always have to wait for the moment itself.

We can experience some of it in the anticipation.

But this week, I found myself thinking about what happens after it arrives.

We look forward to it.

We hope for it.

We work towards it.

Sometimes, we pray for it.

Then it happens.

We live it.

Life continues.

And eventually, something that once meant so much to us can simply become…normal!

That made me wonder:

Don’t you think gratitude should become a more prominent part of family conversations and workplace culture?

When Extraordinary Becomes Everyday

Think about how easily it happens.

The home you once hoped for becomes the place where everyday family life unfolds.

The people you couldn’t wait to spend more time with become the people you see so regularly that their presence feels completely normal.

The opportunity you were excited to receive becomes part of your working week.

The responsibility you wanted becomes something you now routinely carry.

Something you once worked incredibly hard to be able to do becomes something you now do without giving it much thought.

And sometimes, even something we once prayed for becomes so familiar that we stop recognising it as an answered prayer.

There is nothing wrong with familiarity.

In many ways, it is part of life.

But I wonder how many good things have quietly disappeared from our attention, not because they disappeared from our lives, but because we got used to having them.

Perhaps This Is Where Gratitude Comes In

Gratitude gives us an opportunity to notice again.

Not gratitude as something we are told we should feel.

Not gratitude that asks us to pretend everything is wonderful.

Not another workplace wellbeing initiative.

And not something reserved for special occasions around the dinner table.

I mean gratitude becoming part of how we notice, speak about and acknowledge what is already good, what has changed, what someone has contributed and how far we have come.

Gratitude doesn’t have to deny what is difficult...because it doesnt!!!

It also doesn’t prevent us from wanting more.

or ask us to stop moving forward either.

It simply makes room for another question:

While I am looking towards what comes next, what is already here that is still worthy of my appreciation?

What Could This Look Like in Our Families?

So much of family conversation is understandably practical.

What happened at school?
Have you done your homework?
What time are we leaving?
Who’s doing what tomorrow?
What do we need from the shop?
Did you remember…?

Life needs those conversations!

But what if gratitude became part of them too?

Not forced.

Not every conversation.

Just naturally woven into family life.

What happened today that you’re glad happened?

Who did something today that you appreciated?

What can we do now as a family that perhaps we couldn’t do before?

Or perhaps the question at the heart of this week’s thought:

What is part of our everyday life now that we once hoped for?

Imagine what we might learn about one another simply by asking!

Gratitude can become more than something we privately feel.

It can become something that helps families and friends notice together.

And What Could It Look Like at Work?

Workplaces are particularly good at looking forward.

The next target.

The next deadline.

The next milestone.

The next problem to solve.

The next opportunity.

The next thing that needs to change.

Those conversations are necessary.

But !!!!!

When our attention is continually directed towards what is still outstanding, it can become really easy to overlook what has already changed.

A team may now be doing something routinely that felt incredibly difficult six months ago.

A colleague may be confidently handling something that once required considerable support.

A process that once caused frustration may now work so smoothly that nobody talks about it anymore.

You may even be sitting in a role, leading a project, influencing decisions or carrying a responsibility that you once hoped somebody would trust you with.

And now?

It is simply another day at work.

When progress becomes familiar, it can very quickly start to look ordinary.

Perhaps gratitude gives us a way of seeing that progress again.

Not instead of accountability.

Not instead of ambition.

Not instead of addressing what isn’t working.

Alongside them.

We can recognise what has been achieved and still pursue what comes next.

We can appreciate someone’s contribution and still support their development.

We can acknowledge how far we have come without suggesting that the work is finished.

Perhaps gratitude doesn’t make us less ambitious.

Perhaps it helps ensure that our ambition doesn’t make our progress invisible.

There Is a Brain Health Connection Here Too

Our brains cannot give equal attention to everything around us.

They have to prioritise.

Things that are new, changing, urgent or requiring action naturally compete for our attention.

What becomes familiar often requires less conscious attention.

That is useful. Imagine having to process every familiar detail of your life as though you were encountering it for the first time.

But... there is another side to familiarity.

Something can remain valuable while becoming less noticeable.

And that is where the simple practice of gratitude can become powerful!

We deliberately redirect our attention.

We pause.

We notice.

We recognise.

Attention is an executive function.

So gratitude isn’t only about feeling thankful.

It can also become an intentional practice of paying attention to what matters.

Which is why I have chosen to do this for 90 days...I was going through things

that made me not like either what I was doing or where I was...

My peace of mind was disrupted and it impacted my mood!!!

Hence this challenge which has refocused my (brain) thoughts such that I am in a great place!!

#IAmGratefulToGodForAnsweredAndUnansweredPrayers

Today’s Gratitude

And that brings me to today’s gratitude thought:

I am grateful for what is already part of my everyday life, because some of it is what I once hoped and prayed for.

That sentence makes me look differently at the word normal.

Perhaps some of what I call normal isn’t insignificant at all.

Perhaps I have simply lived with it long enough for it to feel that way.

Perhaps you have too.

#IChoose

#IChoose to notice what I once hoped and prayed for and now call normal.

Just one thing.

It could be something at home.

Something at work.

Someone in your life.

An opportunity.

A responsibility.

A piece of progress.

Something about yourself.

Something that makes you stop for a moment and think:

I remember when I hoped for this.

This Week’s Practice

Last week, I asked:

What are you looking forward to?

This week, I want to turn that question around:

What are you living today, that you once looked forward to?

Ask yourself.
Ask it around the dinner table.
Ask it during a family conversation.

Perhaps even ask it of your team:

What are we doing today that we once hoped we would be able to do?
Then listen to the answers.
There may be progress hiding in plain sight.
There may be people we have become accustomed to having around us.
There may be opportunities we no longer recognise as opportunities.
There may even be answered prayers sitting quietly inside what we now call everyday life.