Showing gratitude and giving thanks this time of year seems to be a common practice for many of us. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it is the season to give thanks for the blessings in our life. I know that despite the many challenges I have had over the last year, I still have many things to be grateful for. Yes, the list of challenges has become lengthy but the list of reasons to be thankful still continues to be bigger, and always will.
Giving thanks to the people around us is an attitude. It is a way in which we choose to act and a way we choose to treat others. I say choice because I believe it is just that: our choice. I choose to be thankful that my kids are healthy and I have a warm, dry home for them to sleep in at night. I also choose to be thankful for having some really great friends in my life that I can laugh with, pray with and lean on when I need to. Although I do not necessarily welcome the struggles, I am thankful for them because without them, I would not be the person I am today, for it is those struggles that have molded me, stretched me and pushed me into who I am today. Yes, I am thankful for many things that I have been so fortunate to be a part of and experience in this life.
Something else that being thankful does, is that it has a reciprocating law attached to it which seems to always come back around. When we show gratitude towards someone, we are rewarded by the releasing of positive energy that will come back to us, sometimes in a way of blessed friendships and sometimes in a way of more peace and love in our own life. I have also seen situations where people are genuinely appreciated and thanked for what they do, which makes them far more likely to help or be involved in a project that makes a difference in people’s lives. Releasing the attitude of gratitude is a win/win for everyone and if you can embrace it, you will quickly understand why it is some folks who seem to be grateful all the time are often some of the happiest people you know.
Yes, it is the season to be thankful for what we have. But why not adopt this attitude and be grateful all year? The worst you can get from it is that you start to feel better because you will be lifting someone else up. There is something magical in an attitude of gratitude. I have seen it at work all around me and the difference it has made in my own life over the years. In many areas of the ancient scriptures, gratitude and giving thanks is thoroughly discussed.
Take today and tomorrow and make a list of everything you are grateful and thankful for. Even if you are going through the most difficult time of your life right now and are facing serious challenges, by making a list, looking at what you have in your life and reading the list out loud, I bet you can still find many more reasons for giving thanks than what your struggles add up to.
To you and your family, have a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving.
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