Attitude of Gratitude

This is the season of Thanksgiving.  It is a time to give thanks for the blessings of life, and a time to gather with friends and family. Thanksgiving is filled with food, family, and football.  But in reality, it is a time to pause and reflect on your attitude and outlook on life.  Is your attitude one of being grateful for the blessings, the struggles, and the gift of life?

Yes, being grateful is a choice.  It is giving thanks in all circumstances and finding good even in the tough struggles of life.  It is recognizing there is good in life and acknowledging the source of goodness.  Your attitude defines how you see life and if you see the good.  An attitude of gratitude means you have an appreciation for the simple things of life and being kind is your motto. 

Some people have an attitude, right?  They are sarcastic and make comments that put other people down.  They react and get upset at the most trivial things and feel slighted if they are not consulted or the focus.  Their sense of gratitude is having everything given to them whether material possessions or attention.  When asked what they are thankful for, they begin to tell you their problems and are negative with a focus on what they do not have and need.  They are not who you want to sit beside at the Thanksgiving dinner table.

An attitude of gratitude involves your beliefs, your convictions, your perspective and point of view on life.  Your attitude is the way you think and feel which is expressed in your behavior.  Gratitude is a positive outlook on the blessings of life.  It is not just a feeling, but it is how you respond to life. 

The world is negative and focused on worldly possessions, believing the more you have and the more popular you are, the better life will be.  This does not make you grateful but hateful and fearful.  You always are trying to accumulate more to find happiness.  You rarely are grateful because it is never enough.

It is time to retrain the brain to have an attitude of gratitude.  It is being grateful for what you have and not focused on what you do not have.  It is seeing the good in a world of evil and hate and brokenness.  It is daily being thankful that you woke up, you are alive, you have resources to live, you have breath, you are loved, and that God is good and that God cares about you.

Your attitude is known through your behavior.  It is changing how you express yourself and what you do so that being grateful shines through to others.  It is a change of heart and change of focus.  There are ways to live out this attitude of gratitude in your daily life.  Be kind to others.  Kindness goes a long way.  You do not need to say everything you think or condemn another person for their different beliefs or different way of life.  It is being kind and respectful.  It is saying “thank you” to others and to God.  You are blessed.  It is giving to others from these blessings.  Give at your church, to organizations that are helping others, put food in the blessing boxes around town, visit people in nursing homes and who are home alone.  The list is endless in how you can give to others.  When you are grateful for what you have, you will want to share with others.  Being grateful and focusing on giving to others helps your depression and anxiety.  It changes your focus from yourself to others.

Be thankful for the simple things of life too. 

Elaine J. Sturtz

Living In The Different