Being grateful isn’t telling yourself “others have it worse.” It’s noticing what’s good in your own life.

Gratitude built on comparison needs other people’s suffering as fuel, and it does not work for long. Telling yourself that somebody somewhere has it worse produces guilt rather than thankfulness, and it quietly makes other people’s hard lives into equipment for managing your mood. Noticing works differently. It looks straight at what is actually good in your own situation, without anybody else in the frame.

Name three specific good things about your own week, with no reference to anyone else. The specific part matters more than the number.