Gratitude Lifts the Soul
Many great authors and teachers describe the healing effects giving thanks provides the soul.
G.K. Chesterton wrote “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”
Epictetus said “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”
Abraham Maslow taught “(Some people) have a wonderful capacity to appreciate again and again, freshly and naively, the basic goods of life, with awe, pleasure, wonder, and even ecstasy.”
Thomas Monson outlined “We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.”
Our Focus this Month
This past week, stories about Black Friday (the biggest shopping day in America) outnumbered stories on Thanksgiving. Our obsession with commercialism, buying, and self-centered gratification contribute not to peace and joy. It increases stress, fosters contention, develops crushing disappointment, short-term gratification, and longer-term debt (with its companions despair and pressure). Yet, for so many their focus for November fixes on Black Friday.
Giving thanks, instead, lifts the soul, brings peace, and reduces stress. Take a moment as you read my list to let the words paint pictures on your soul. Then, notice the smile that comes to your face, the light in your heart, and the spring in your step. Our lives change when we shift our focus to giving thanks for all the good around us.
Consider giving thanks for each the following. Then, add your items to the list:
- Veterans of current and past wars who placed our safety above their security in battlefields far from home (did you ponder on November 11)
- Mothers and fathers who sacrificed their todays to help us have better tomorrows
- Smiles springing from innocent children enjoying the joy of the wind or leaves falling
- Shelter whether it be a box in an alley or a home in the valley
- Food in our pantry—or a community pantry to feed others
- Principles of government that can recreate the greatest nation on earth
- Songs that lift, inspire, and cause us to whistle, sing or dance
- Teachers that taught us with little financial reward and too few words of thanks; but hugs of gratitude when we see them years or decades later
- Friends forming rings of protection, support, and camaraderie that circumvent the globe, the years, and the memories
- Strangers with needs that make our despairs seem small if we will but lift eyes to see and hands to help
- Family and friends who successfully recuperate from dangerous surgeries
- Ailing pain filled lives that finally slip into peaceful slumber and reward
- Our Savior, Christ the Lord, whose gift of grace, ensures we can find joy
My family and I wish you the happiness that comes from an attitude of gratitude. Please pass it to others you know that need less stress and more joy.
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