An Attitude of Gratitude

O.K., now I know you are already at the end of the road knowing what is coming. Here is something I have actually used and, trust me, it really works. We have all most likely heard this one, but my question to you is “Have you really done it and tried it for at least two weeks?”

Here goes...my sister in law, Jan gave me a book and remarked that one story in this book was about writing down 5 things each night of things you are thankful for. She said it is really life changing.

I began to read the book and finally came to the chapter that explained to me the importance of counting every blessing in my days and actually writing down at least 5 things I was thankful for in each day. Here are my results:

At the time, our family was recovering from an extreme financial set back. We were traveling in an old model motor home ( and trust me, if you have never traveled in an old motor home, you would never understand all the potentials for break downs and a lot of high out of pocket repairs). Behind it we pulled an even older model car that barely got us from point A to point B.

Each day, it was not hard to find things that I was thankful for. It was simple things like: enjoyed a good cup of coffee with Gary today, Hannah did not have any potty accidents today, Aaron had a great attitude, etc.

One morning Gary and I were in our old blue car. It was becoming extremely hot now as summer was approaching. I turned to Gary and said “you know, I feel like I am on top of the world right now.”

Then it hit me, here I was traveling in an old beat up car with no air conditioning and I know for a fact, in the past I would have been complaining to the high heavens of how persecuted I was to have to be traveling in this old car and burning up from the heat. Instead, my attitude had changed. I was so busy dwelling on all the good in my life, that I did not even notice the bad.

I highly encourage you, if you have never done it before, to start a Gratitude journal. You could use any old notebook, but make it special. Purchase a blank book, that you can treasure and write consistently in every day.

When I find myself plunging into a negative mind set, I know it is time again to renew my commitment to my grateful journal.

Here is the bottom line. Without faith, your prayers can not be answered. The key to faith is to begin being thankful. We can even thank God for the seemingly bad things that happen in our lives because we know He is working it all for our good.

I truly hope you will make this your goal, especially by this Thanksgiving holiday to begin your journal. Please share your comments on this blog with me and others.