Pages

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

gratitude

In light of the recent holiday, I've been thinking a lot about giving thanks.

by peacecranegreetings
How many times do you generally say "thank you" in a day? If you feel gratitude, do you express it? Conversely, how many times do you complain, make requests, or think "when this happens, I'll be much happier"?

by cottonflowerpress
I've been convicted of this lately and have been making a concerted effort to appreciate what I have now and share the thankfulness that I am feeling. If a batch of doughnuts in the break room makes me smile, I shouldn't keep that to myself. Nor should I isolate the kind words in my head when I see my husband has done the dishes or vacuumed the stairs.

by iloveitall
But what if you're not feeling particularly grateful? Well, that is perhaps the most powerful time to practice this concept. Since life is 10% what happens to you and 90% your reaction to it, what if your reaction was to give thanks? How much more life-giving would your countenance be?

by vinylyourdesign
Thus my current endeavor: to increase my awareness of the blessings in life and respond accordingly by giving thanks to the responsible party.

If this speaks to you, print it and hang it up! Click the image for a larger version.


Your turn to speak up! What are you thankful for lately?

3 comments:

  1. Hmm, good words! I am so thankful for my hubby too, he's been such a blessing in my life!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What an inspirational and motivational blog! As I was reading it, I sat for a few minutes and thought of the abundance of things I have to be thankful for...THANK YOU for reminding me that those are two of the most powerful words we can say!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, this hits home. I try to recognize when my family does nice things so that they feel the pride of doing something good and being recognized for it. I don't always want to be the bad guy telling them to clean their rooms.

    Thanks for featuring my subway art, I am humbled. I would be happy to offer a 15% discount on any one item to your readers with the code JANE in their message to seller.

    Best Wishes!

    ReplyDelete