The Attitude of Gratitude

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.