Doing heavy work in the heat on MLK day, I came across a strategy for being grateful. As I was suffering the heat, I realized I had things to look forward to. I knew I was going to shower when I was done, that I would get to relax in the AC. It wasn’t all that bad, especially compared to others.

The strategy is to think of others who have had it worse. When it comes to manual labor, how about:

Slaves in the early United States - you work every day for your entire life (not to mention all the mistreatment, dehumanization, and sometimes even torture)
Concentration camp captives during WWII - you work under inhumane conditions until you starve or they execute you (Victor Frankl details this, and how to find meaning regardless, in his phenomenal book Man’s Search for Meaning)

Basically, compare your situation to someone who has suffered much worse. There always is that someone.

At the end of the day, there are many strategies that can help us be grateful. If the strategy above doesn’t work, just remember it’s due to people like Martin Luther King Jr., who refused to accept such types of tyranny. We can be grateful for heroes of the past who have made the world better for us now.