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blogging, gratitude, humor, insanitybytes22, life, thanksgiving
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This blog about narcissistic abuse and “Irritable Gratitude Syndrome,” as well as the article she linked to about traumatic brain injury and “Irritable Gratitude Syndrome,” gave me a good chuckle.
Yep! It’s kind of like when you’ve been shoved off the edge of a cliff and you’re now on the bottom of a gully with a bone sticking out of your leg and some helpful soul comes along and says, “You know what your problem is? You really need to cultivate an attitude of gratitude.”
I mean, sheesh, like shove that bone back in place and walk it off. What a whiner! Not even grateful she’s still breathing. You’re lucky to be alive. It could always be worse, you know.
Well sure, it could always be worse! It could also be a helluva lot better.
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‘Tis the season of Thanksgiving, of roasted turkeys and Norman Rockwell paintings, and yet I feel a strong nudge to pause all the festivities for a moment and just give a special shout out to those suffering from, “Irritable Gratitude Syndrome.”
It’s a bit like looking at that turkey and admonishing him, what an ingrate! Here you are warm, about 165 degrees really, safe, surrounded by family, and you’re acting like you just got the crappy drumstick out of the deal….
Nobody ever considers how the turkey might feel about all this “gratitude.”
I suffer from Irritable Gratitude Syndrome quite frequently. Justifiable, legitimate, “not grateful,” and for good reason. Those times when you’re like, “Thank you for salvation, for breath…….uh, that’s it Lord. I got nothing! This whole situation is just a crap sandwich with no end in sight. Grateful I haven’t developed Job’s boils? Yet….?”
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You have to watch those “yets,” that future tripping. If all you can focus on is being grateful for all the bad things that haven’t happened yet, “at least we aren’t homeless,” then just cancel the gratitude quest entirely. Future tripping leads to nothing but fear and anxiety. Then you’re ungrateful and now full of fear and anxiety to boot! Come back to the present, into His presence.
I like the advice and suggestions at the end of both of the articles, but the second one really nailed it.
“Hug your pillow.
Hug your kids.
Hug the dog.
Hug the cat.
Hug the UPS man. You get the picture. Hugging helps”
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Yep, hug everybody you can, early and often. Come back to the present, back into His presence, and be reassured because so many of the people in the Bible suffered from Irritable Gratitude Syndrome too, Job for sure, Jonah all cranky about His worm, Jeremiah the Weeping Prophet, and Elijah who had to be fed by hand. Irritable Gratitude Syndrome, it’s a real thing.
I also enjoyed this NY times article by David DeSteno, “Why Gratitude Is Wasted on Thanksgiving.”
Yep! Happy Irritable Gratitude Syndrome, people.
Ha! Well written as always. Irritably grateful is much better than my go to place of complacency. For if I let myself think that this is it, the bottom of the pit, I might foolishly settle in and wallow in my misery, because what the heck, it can’t get worse and it is amazing what I can get used to as the new normal if I don’t fear slipping farther into the abyss.
So yes, I am one of those to be avoided at all costs people who will look at your misery and say, come on get up let’s go, move it move it, for it could be worse.
I think the difference lies in that I would also stoop done into your pit with you and give lots of hugs (they are so right about the hugs) suffer with you for awhile until you were so annoyed with me that you would turn to the Lord for deliverance of my presence. And really, nothing is better than a hug from our Lord and Savior.
Happy Irritable Gratitude Day to you too!
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Ha! Great comment. I like what you said about settling into complacency. Sometimes that’s a side effect of us always preaching about gratitude and contentment! It’s can be easy for some of us to just settle down in the bottom of a pit because it is comfortable and to grow content with staying there. A wee bit of discontent and a lack of gratitude for our current situation can help to get us to start climbing out. Happy Thanksgiving. 🙂
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“Irritable Gratitude Syndrome”? 😆
I think what the lady is describing is people who don’t have much use for insincere sympathy. We have all experienced it, and we all know it is worthless! A traumatic brain injury is not required.
What should we be grateful for? We should be grateful for a God who supports us and the people who share our misery, relieving us of a bit of our burden. We should be grateful for what we have, not for the fact things could be worse. Gratitude doesn’t work that way. We are not wired that way. We are grateful for the gifts we have been given, not for the things that have not been taken from us.
The guy who wrote “Why Gratitude Is Wasted on Thanksgiving” hilariously missed the point of the day (not surprised you found it in the The New York Times). We gather with family and friends to thank God. Lots of us have very weak ties with Him, and we need to strengthen those.
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Have a Happy Thanksgiving Day!
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Happy thanksgiving! 😊
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Here is a post that directly addresses David DeSteno’s confusion.
https://therecoveringlegalist.com/2019/11/27/thanking-and-the-thankee-2/
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Pingback: THANKFUL FOR WHAT AND TO WHOM? – Citizen Tom
Interesting stuff to ponderIB. Happy Thanksgiving!
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Happy thanksgiving, Tricia!
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