Gratitude is easy when life is smooth. When prayers feel answered, friendships feel steady, and nothing is weighing heavily on your heart, it’s natural to say, “Thank you, Lord.”
But what about the times when everything feels heavy? When the job is draining… the loneliness is sharp… the relationship is complicated… or the future feels foggy?
Finding gratitude there can feel impossible. But it’s also where gratitude becomes something deeper than a feeling it becomes a choice that brings real freedom.
If you’re in a hard season, here are a few simple, honest ways to practice gratitude without pretending everything is fine.
1. Start with the smallest thing you can name
When life hurts, the idea of “being grateful” can feel like pressure. So take the pressure off. Don’t try to be profound, try to be specific.
Instead of forcing yourself to say, “I’m grateful for this suffering,” begin with what is undeniably good, even if it’s tiny:
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I’m grateful for the text from a friend this morning.
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I’m grateful for coffee and ten quiet minutes.
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I’m grateful I made it through today.
Gratitude isn’t meant to gloss over pain. It simply keeps one window open when the room feels dark.
2. Let Jesus close the gap between your pain and His
One of the most freeing truths we have is this: Jesus knows suffering from the inside.
He doesn’t stand at a distance. He enters it.
Fr. Michel Esparza, in Is Jesus Still Suffering?, explains that Jesus allows our suffering to touch His heart not so we stay stuck in pain, but so our pain becomes a meeting place with Him. When life hurts, gratitude can sound like this:
“Jesus, thank You for being with me in this. Thank You for not letting me carry it alone.”
That’s authentic gratitude not for the pain, but for the companionship.
3. Look for the freedom no one can take from you
Jacques Philippe writes in Interior Freedom that while we can’t always control our circumstances, we can choose how we respond. Even in struggle, we still have the freedom to love, to hope, and to trust.
This truth doesn’t magically make suffering disappear. But it keeps suffering from becoming the whole story.
Maybe your job is uncertain, but you are still free to be patient today.
Maybe a relationship is hurting, but you are still free to forgive.
Maybe your future is unclear, but you are still free to take the next small step.
Gratitude grows when we recognize the quiet freedoms still available to us.
4. Ask God for one grace each day
Don’t try to transform your entire life at once. Ask for a single grace:
“Lord, give me the grace to notice one good thing today.”
That prayer might be answered through something small — sunlight, generosity, a moment of unexpected peace. Let each of those become a thread that pulls you forward.
If gratitude feels like a stretch right now, that’s okay. You’re not doing it wrong. Gratitude in suffering doesn’t make you superhuman — it simply keeps your heart soft enough to let God in.
And sometimes, that’s the bravest prayer of all.
