Thankful for the Tailwinds

God makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; He sends rain and brings the winds from His storehouses. 

– Psalm 135:7 

Isn’t it amazing how quickly we take good things for granted?  

Yesterday at 2:00 am, I awoke to discover that we had no water in our house. Turning on the bathroom faucet produced only a hissing rush of air and the toilets were only good for a single flush.  We rely on a low-producing well to supply our water, so when the two storage cisterns get emptied by an undetected leak, we’re left high and dry until they slowly re-fill over the next few days.  

Without water, teenagers complain because they can’t shower.  Without water, I want to join them because the laundry and dishes quickly pile up.

I can’t remember the last time I was thankful for the water that runs clean and abundantly (almost) every day.  But today, we’ve all been quick to complain about its absence.   

Why do we tend to focus on what we do not have instead of being grateful for what we do have?  

A group of Cornell psychologists have recently described this phenomenon as the “headwinds/tailwinds asymmetry,” where “headwinds” are the challenges we face, and “tailwinds” are the so-called “lucky breaks” that go our way.  Even when the good and the bad of a situation are exactly equal, we almost always overemphasize the negative and focus on what’s not working or “unfair” in our lives.  

On the March 16, 2017 Freakonomics Radio podcast, they discussed how the headwinds/tailwinds asymmetry explains why people tend to think that their parents were much tougher on them than their siblings, why both Democrats and Republicans feel that the electoral deck is stacked against them, and why their favorite sports teams always seem to have the toughest schedule in the league.  

In a nutshell, they have found that we are not nearly as grateful as we ought to be.  We overemphasize the headwinds in our lives, making us feel that others have it easier than we do, which fosters a spirit of resentment.  We undervalue/ overlook the tailwinds in our lives.  This failing to recognize the good, leaves us ungrateful and unhappy. 

So how do we keep from getting blown backwards by life’s headwinds and stuck in a cycle of resentment? It’s simple! You’re already doing it!

The Cornell researchers, and many others in the field, have found that gratitude increases the strength of our tailwinds. Scientists agree, giving thanks has the power to push people forward toward happiness and a fulfilling life.  

Specifically, the researchers suggested establishing repeated and consistent patterns of giving thanks, such as creating a gratitude journal.  But they did come to the resolve that this is a hard habit to keep up.

In our case, by being prompted to stop our train of thinking and give thanks every day at 3pm, we are practicing a daily pattern that focuses our brains on our tailwinds.  When we stop to recognize God’s tailwinds, things like clean water, a cozy bed, delicious food, a friend’s hug, a spouse’s help, a child’s hand, safe schools, good roads, and fun vacations…we are strengthening the wind at our back.  

Gratitude shifts our minds away from the hardships in our lives and pushes us forward into the abundant life God has planned for us.

The Power of Giving God Thanks Will Ignite Your Faith and Change Your World!

Thank You for Being a Part of the 3 O’Clock Wake Up Movement