Just an observation: it is impossible to be both grateful and depressed. Those with a grateful mindset tend to see the message in the mess. And even though life may knock them down, the grateful find reasons, if even small ones, to get up.

The quotation argues that gratitude functions as a psychological counterweight to despair: when attention is trained on what remains good, meaningful, or workable, the mind is less likely to spiral into hopelessness. Its phrasing (“message in the mess”) frames adversity as interpretable rather than purely punitive, suggesting that suffering can yield insight, resilience, or renewed purpose. The final image—being knocked down yet finding small reasons to rise—emphasizes gratitude not as denial of pain but as a practice of noticing sustaining details that enable persistence. As motivational counsel, it promotes an intentional mindset shift: cultivating gratitude as a daily discipline to reorient perception and support recovery after setbacks.