As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, thankfulness does not pretend that nothing is wrong.  We must be honest about what is difficult in our lives.  Some situations just stink.  Our issue is that we get tunnel vision and focus on the difficulties.  We need to balance talking about the truth of both the difficult and positive pieces of life.  If we understand what God has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ, I think we can much more easily find the positives in life.

Jesus gave His life.  He suffered for us in a way we cannot fully understand.  He suffered to give us the chance for eternal joy. Once we place our trust in Jesus, no one can take that eternal joy away from us (John 10:28-30).

So allow yourself to be honest about the challenges, but don’t forget the joys.  God gives many good gifts (James 1:17).  He gives us the strength of joy to make it through the trials.