The Attitude Of Gratitude
Have an attitude of gratitude, they say.
Easier said than done sometimes, right?
I’ll be the first to admit that I go through plenty of periods of time where I don’t feel particularly thankful. Yep… I sound a tad spoiled, considering all of the blessings I have in my life.
Sometimes it’s just hard to remember the things that are going right when there is a lot of other stuff going wrong. All it takes is a glance at the news these days to see the state of the world and what a mess we’re in. On top of all that, there are the constant messages that you should never be satisfied with what you have – there’s always more… STUFF.
I am grateful that I have a husband who sees the real me, and stays.
I am grateful that I have three beautiful children, when specialists told me the three I already had in heaven would be all I’d get.
I am grateful that I have the things I need – a roof over my head, food in the pantry, clothes to keep me warm.
I am grateful that I have a God who continues to love me despite my sometimes wavering love in return.
And yet…
Why is there always something crappy sneaking up to put a damper on the good things? Sadly, it’s not the good things that get the focus in my life on the daily. It’s the phone call from school that he’s falling apart, the self-sabatoge of my clean-eating diet again, the worrying instead of sleeping at night, the new therapy that hasn’t worked. Those are the things that hold the spotlight.
What if I can somehow learn to shift my perspective by finding just one thing to be thankful for when I find myself focused on the things that are going wrong? There’s something to be said for CHOOSING joy. The attitude of gratitude. If I can pull myself up and out and look at the big picture, I DO have a lot to be thankful for, even on those bad days.
Will doing this cancel out the things going wrong? No. But it will remind me that everything on this earth is temporary. There is more to life than the troubles of right now, even when it doesn’t feel that way.
So, I will make sure to take time this Thanksgiving to be grateful for the small and simple things, even if there’s hard stuff happening in the same moment. Maybe choosing joy will help lead to the attitude of gratitude.
What are you thankful for this year?
