The Attitude of Gratitude
Gratitude, thankfulness, gratefulness, appreciation: a feeling or attitude in acknowledgement of a
benefit that one has received or will receive.
Gratitude is what gets poured into the glass to make it half
full. Gratitude not only can be
deliberately cultivated, but it can increase levels of well-being and happiness
to those who cultivate it. How cool is
that?! In addition to those perks, it is
also associated with increased levels of energy, optimism and empathy. An attitude of gratitude can literally
transform your life!
The Lord calls us to be thankful in all circumstances. It is His will for us to be grateful.
Quotes
“Cultivate the habit of being
grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously.
And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include
all things in your gratitude.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Do not spoil what you have by
desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the
things you only hoped for.” ― Epicurus
“Let gratitude be the pillow upon
which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you
build to overcome evil and welcome good.” ― Maya Angelou, Celebrations: Rituals
of Peace and Prayer
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the
parent of all others.” ―Cicero
Scripture
“Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for
you who belong to Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT)
“And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians
5:20 NLT)
“This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm
118:24 NLT)
“And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the
Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” (Colossians 3:17 NLT)
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” (Psalm
136:1 NLT)
Living a Life of Gratitude Can Make You
Happy
Really…the
simple act of thinking about whom and what I am grateful for can make a big
difference in my life?
Yes! Try it out.
Sit for a moment, humble yourself, and think about who all and what all
you are grateful for. I’ll be willing to
bet, afterward, you’ll find yourself feeling blessed and a wave of happiness
will come over you. Like that
feeling? Do this on a regular
basis. Call it your “gratitude session.”
So why does
this work? And whom/what should I be
grateful to/for?
·
What’s Important – Gratitude will remind you of what is
truly important. It is hard to complain
about all the little things when you are grateful for the big things. It’s hard to complain about a sniffle or
sneeze when you hear of someone else who is fighting for their life with
cancer. It is hard to get stressed about
that drip in the faucet, that unfinished project, etc. when you are grateful
that you have a roof over your head.
When we look at the big picture and are grateful for what is truly
important, the things that once were bothering us, don’t seem so big, nor as
important anymore.
·
Thank Others – Being grateful reminds you to thank
others. A single “thank you” can make a
huge impact on someone’s life. Everyone
likes to be appreciated for who they are and what they do. It doesn't cost you a thing to say thank you
and be grateful, and it makes someone else happy…what a wonderfully free gift
you can give! And, making someone else
happy will make you happy. Try it. It’s hard not to smile, when someone is
smiling at you for something you've said or done for them. Smiles and thanks are free, and catching!
·
Positive Reminders – Being grateful reminds you of all the
positive things in life. As you focus on
all the positives, the negatives get pushed to the background. Focus on the positives enough, and the
negatives start to fade away and become less significant, if not completely insignificant. It makes you happy about and appreciative for
the people in your life. It makes you
appreciate all the blessings you have.
You will find that you are blessed more than perhaps you realized you
were.
·
Turns Negatives to Positives – Kids driving you batty? Be grateful you have those children and that
they are healthy. Work problems getting
to you? Be grateful you have work, when
so many are struggling in this economy.
Wishing you had more? Be grateful
for what you have, for there are so many out there that would be blessed to
have a fraction of what you've got. Be
grateful for the challenges that come your way, it means your life isn't
boring. Be grateful you can learn from
these challenges and that they are making you a stronger person. Turn that gray cloud into a silver lining!
·
Keeps us Humble – Being grateful reminds us to be
humble. Often we are greedy, yearning
for more. We are too busy looking at
what we don’t have, what we would like to have, rather than being thankful for
what we do have. Sometimes we neglect to
give thanks because we have taken what we have for granted. When was the last time you gave thanks for
the simple things? Giving thanks keeps
us from taking the blessings of life for granted.
·
Who to be Grateful For – Your loved ones that do so much for
you, coworkers who help you out with that workload when you ask them, friends
that are always there when you need them, strangers who have shown you acts of
kindness, everyone! Be thankful for all
the many people who add so much color and warmth to your life…your wife, your
husband, your children, your family, your friends, etc. Each one enriches you and is a personal gift
directly from the hand of God. Thank
yourself for the things you've done, as it is important to recognize your own
accomplishments as well. And most
importantly, thank God for the life He has given you. He has given you so much!
·
What to be Grateful For – Be grateful for everything you have
been given, big and small, good and bad.
The big good things, obviously impact our lives. But the small good things impact our lives as
well, sometimes just as much as the big things.
Wait, did you say to also be grateful for the bad things? Yes, I did.
I’ll speak more to this in the next section.
Life’s Storms
So, you said to
be grateful for the bad things.
Why? The bad things mold us into
the people we are today. I believe the
most difficult time to be grateful is when we are in the middle of a challenge,
a setback, a problem, or a trail. When a
storm starts raging, giving thanks is rarely our first reaction. It’s never easy to be thankful during
adversity, but it is always right.
The difficult
times are the ones in which God seems to be most at work in our lives. He strengthens our weak spots. He comforts our hurting hearts. He draws us closer to him and increases our
dependence upon him. He takes the bad
things, the things that Satan does to us in an effort to destroy us, and uses
them for our good. He turns those bad
things into blessings, even if we aren't always able to immediately see it. Praise Him during the storm and afterward,
for He knows exactly what He is doing and what plans He has for each and every
one of us!
Why God Commands Us to Give Thanks in
All Circumstances
God wants us to
give thanks to Him in good times because thanksgiving promotes God’s glory and
develops humility in us. Every good and
perfect gift is from above. Giving
thanks makes us appreciative for what we have been given. We appreciate life more when we make it a
point to focus on all the wonderful things we have been given; in other words,
when we take the time to count our blessings.
God wants us to
give thanks to Him in difficult times because it is an act of faith. It takes faith to thank God for difficult
circumstances. We must believe that He
has a plan for us that we cannot see. We
must believe that His wisdom is beyond our own understanding. This requires more than just superficial
faith. God wants us to learn to walk by
faith and not by sight. We cannot always
understand why things happen in our lives.
By depending on God through all times, good or bad, we can know peace
even in the confusing and difficult times.
“Good Timber” by Douglas Malloch
The tree that never had
to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to
toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow
with ease:
The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
Where thickest lies the
forest growth,
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.
Be Thankful
Be thankful that you don’t already
have everything you desire, if you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don’t know
something, for it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult
times. During those times, you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge,
because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes, they
will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you are tired and
weary, because it means you’ve made a difference.
It is easy to be thankful for the
good things. A life of rich fulfillment
comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks.
GRATITUDE can turn a negative into
a positive. Find a way to be thankful
for your troubles and they can become your blessings.
~ Author Unknown ~
Grateful All Year Long
Gratitude isn’t
something that should just pass from our minds with the passing of a
season. It’s not just an exercise we
should perform just at Thanksgiving and Christmas time. It is an attitude, a God-focused response to
every circumstance throughout each moment of each day of each year.
Some Things I Am Grateful For
If I listed all
that I am grateful for, I would never stop writing. So, here is just the tip of the iceberg.
I am grateful
for my husband, whom I love with all I am and all I have. I am grateful for my children, who are the
best blessings we could ever be given. I
am grateful for my parents, who are always there when I need them. I am grateful for my family, my in-laws, and
my friends. I am grateful for my job, my
talents, and the success I have had with both.
I am grateful for my heath, the ability to get around well, the weight
loss I have achieved, the ability to weight train, and the ability to run
around and play with our children. I am grateful
for our home, which my husband built with his own hands, and his talent to have
been able to build such a home for him and his family. I am grateful we are so blessed and that we
are not struggling when there are so many out there that are. I am grateful we are provided for – food,
clothing, shelter, water, etc.
I am grateful
that God changed my life. I am grateful
for the times of crisis that I thought I could not survive, but did, by His
strength, not by my own. I am grateful
beyond measure and words that the Lord answers my prayers. I am grateful that He hears me when I cry out
to Him and He is quick to respond. I am
grateful He is a God of restoration and can rebuild things and make them new
again, even better than they were before.
I am thankful
that God is good and that His love endures forever. I am grateful that His faithfulness will
never cease. I am grateful that I am a
child of God. I am grateful for my
salvation.
I am grateful.
