Gratitude

Gratitude is something I find myself thinking about again and again. It is such a wonderful practice and can do so much in our lives. One of the fruits of gratitude is healing. God can heal us through gratitude because we realize how much we have to be thankful for. This realization can breakthrough the hurts we have built up over the years by feeling slighted.

This feeling of being slighted and not having enough is one of the most powerful feelings the advertising industry uses to create desire in us and therefore build sales for their product. We are told that we will be happy if we buy it. We are told we deserve the new car. We are told we should have all our desires met all the time. When they are not met we build up feelings of resentment. This continual message creates a discontent and consumerist society.

Practicing gratitude helps us see and be thankful for what we have. It grounds us in the gift of what we have now. People who cultivate gratitude find they reap the fruit of contentment and joy. Practitioners of gratitude find that the world is a place where God meets their needs and frees them to help meet other needs as well. The experience of receiving everything as a gift to be thankful for is profoundly healing for the soul.

We practice gratitude by stopping and reflecting on the gift in the moment and the day. If you are reading this you have a computer, an Internet connection and can read. You are probably indoors or if outdoors using a laptop. If it rains you will be dry since electronics need to be dry. Notice all the things to be grateful for in just reading a blog. The grateful person doesn't let those things slide by, they are noticed and a silent "thank you" is said.

Journaling things each day for which one is thankful is another way to connected to this practice and if a person is in that list try to communicate to them your gratitude. Try each day to simply sit and be thankful for the gifts that come. Even in the tough things we can learn and grow and those things too can help us grow in gratitude.

As you begin this practice or fine tune your practice you will notice that joy increases, trust deeps and there is a sense of being loved.