Gratitude is a more useful fuel than anger

📞5 missing calls.

7PM. Sunday evening.
I was just heading out to a friend’s birthday dinner.

My phone lit up—one of my key customers had been trying to reach me. Five times.

My first instinct?
“It can wait. Unless it’s a fire, I’m off-duty.”

But the moment we connected, I knew:
This wasn’t a small fire—it was a blaze.

Dinner plans: cancelled.
Customer: upset.
Friend and wife: also upset. (The latter being more consequential…)

What followed was a full week of late nights, weekend work, and coordinated action across five locations.
Finally—issue resolved.

⸻

Here’s the unexpected part.

Yes, the week was draining.
But I received more support, encouragement, and kindness from my colleagues than usual. Even thise whom I never had the chance to interact before.

Instead of stewing in frustration over what went wrong,
I decided to document what went right.
Took screenshots of supportive messages.
Wrote thank-you notes to the people who stood by me.

And in doing that, I felt refueled.
Gratitude didn’t just feel good—it made me stronger.

As Seth Godin says:

“Gratitude is a more useful fuel than anger.”
→ https://seths.blog/2025/07/65-thoughts/