Jayne Whyte's Portfolio

We have all been there at some point in our lives. Staring at a plan that did not make it to fruition, missing an important deadline or the pressure of a circumstance beyond our control. In these moments, our hearts cry out for a redo. We say to ourselves, “If only we could turn back the clock”, we think, everything would be different. We get trapped in the “if only” and the “what if,” and at that point, gratitude feels like a foreign language.

There is a powerful, often-overlooked story in the Bible that may speak directly to this feeling. It’s the parable of the ten lepers.

As the story goes, ten men with leprosy, ostracised, desperate, and with no future to look forward to, see Jesus. They call out to him for mercy, and he gives them a simple, strange instruction: “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” As they went, they were healed. A miracle! The very thing they had begged for was granted.

Nine of them raced ahead. They were right to do so! They were running to the priests to be certified as clean, to reclaim their lives, to hug their families, and to return to the world from which they had been exiled. They were embracing the new circumstance, leaving the pain behind. Who could blame them?

But one of them stopped.

The Bible says, “when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks.”

This is the secret to gratitude when things are hard. It is not about the nine things that are still wrong; it is about the one right thing, and acknowledging its source.

The nine lepers were focused on the future, on the life they could now have. The one who returned was focused on the present moment of his healing. He understood that even in the midst of a life that had been utterly broken, this single grace was worthy of a loud, disruptive, and profound “thank you.”

So this is me saying to myself today, and because lately, I have had so many regrets about certain decisions and life choices I have made.

Jayne, you may not be able to turn back the hands of time. You may not be able to change the circumstances you are in, the pressureon all sides, the health diagnosis, the broken relationship, but look for the one thing, however small, that is a gift in this moment, and turn back to give thanks for it.

Maybe it’s the warmth of your tea, your warm bedding, that you are breathing, or that you have had a delicious warm meal. It doesn’t negate the pain, but it reorients your heart. It shifts your focus from the nine problems racing ahead to the one grace right at your feet. Grace!

Gratitude is not a denial of the challenges you are experiencing nor that you are not pained. It is the conscious choice, in the words of the poet, to “praise the mutilated world” for the sliver of light it still offers. So today, don’t just run toward a better future. Be the one who turns back to give thanks. Be the one who falls to their knees in thanks for the single, undeniable grace you have received. In that act, you may just find the strength to face the rest.