An Attitude of Gratitude

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. -Melody Beattie    (Copied from Joscelyn's facebook post)

How true is this reminder! No matter what your physical life is like - good health or challenging health - counting your blessings, living in thankfulness or practicing an attitude of gratitude makes all the difference in the world to how we will respond to situations.

We ourselves, or those we love, may be suffering challenging family issues, personal hurts, deep financial stress or health challenges. Situations that cause one to feel frustrated and lose heart. That's where counting blessings can help the hurting heart re-discover what they can be thankful for. It is an age old Biblical practice that has made the difference in countless lives. Besides the fact that when we wallow in the hurts, regardless of how justified, it will do us very little good. We will find that the pit keeps getting deeper and you won't feel any better. It never changes the situation for good.

But, it sometimes takes practicing an attitude of gratitude to turn our hearts around. It doesn't always come easily. I like to use the word practicing because it may take some effort to acheive. It may take spiritual and emotional exercise to find we can get the victory over a grumbling and hurtful attitude. What does seem true is that practicing an attitude of gratitude helps it to become a more natural response. Our relationship with our loving Savior makes it easier to acheive because of what He has done and does for us everyday. HE is our strength! Through Him we experience the peace that passes understanding; through Him we are constantly learning the WALK of FAITH and not reliance on our tunnel vision human sight and abilities.

So I've got some practicing to do! "Bless the Lord, Oh my soul and ALL that is within me bless His holy name!" Psalm 103:1