An Attitude of Gratitude
Monday, November 24th, 2008
I love doing these Monday Matters posts! It lets me sit back and think about what matters most to me and what I think matters most to you too. Well, here in the United States we celebrate Thanksgiving this Thursday. It is a day to celebrate sharing, unity and counting your many blessings. Of course we have made it a big affair with a symbolic feast, commemorative of the ones the Pilgrims and Indians shared long ago. So, I look forward to this day not just for the food, but for the reminder it gives me to count my many blessings.
As life continues to get busy and rushed I hope we can take a moment to stop and realize the abundance we have around us. There is always something to be grateful for: our family, friends, home, experiences, temporal items and the far deeper richness of life. We certainly all scrap about it…our wonderful gallery is full of layouts celebrating life and enjoying the simple and complex facets of it. I typed in “blessings” in the gallery search engine and found these beautiful layouts, though there are many more. I am sorry this post isn’t too informative or inspiring, but I want you to take a moment to really think about your blessings.
I have a fun activity I do with my family every Thanksgiving morning, but whether you celebrate Thanksgiving or not, it is an activity you can do any day. Sit down with a pen and paper (or blog it) and make a numbered list of everything you are grateful for. It may take a while, but try to think of everything. It may sound silly writing down “I am thankful for my shoes,” or “I am so glad I can drive my car to the store.” There are many out there that don’t have even those luxuries. You will be surprised I think to see how many blessing you really have.
It is a wonderful activity to practice with children too. Gratitude is a learned attitude and the better they learn to recognize the blessings around them, the happier they will be. You can’t see the glass half empty if you’re grateful the glass has something in it at all. My children remind me of the simpler things in life to be grateful for too. My daughter last year had a short list, but a profound one. I am thankful for God. For my blanket. For my family. For the sun. For playing. For everything. Take some time this week and write them down – count your blessings! Scrap the list…save it – put it somewhere to cherish all year!
