Gordon B. Hinckley said, "My plea is that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life, we accentuate the positive." This year we hope to focus more on the positive blessings in our life. Hopefully, this blog is a source of optimism for us now and in the future.

November 24, 2010

Giving Thanks: Day 7

I have spent the last week thinking and writing about what I am thankful for, but what can I do on a daily basis to remember an attitude of gratitude and thanksgiving? My favorite talk about gratitude was given by President Monson in 2008 and is called "Finding Joy in the Journey." It has so many great quotes and things we can do right now to increase our gratitude. Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

"Send that note to the friend you’ve been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say “I love you” more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. Friends move away, children grow up, loved ones pass on. It’s so easy to take others for granted, until that day when they’re gone from our lives and we are left with feelings of “what if” and “if only.” Said author Harriet Beecher Stowe, “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.”


Our realization of what is most important in life goes hand in hand with gratitude for our blessings.


Said one well-known author: “Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend … when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present—love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us [happiness]—the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth.”


The biggest things that I gain from these quotes are 1) make the people in your life the most important thing, and let them know how important they are. 2) Do things (i.e. thank you notes, hugs, etc.) when you think about them rather than letting them get pushed to the side and usually forgotten. 3) Choose to see the abundance (blessings) rather than the lack of abundance.


Happy Thanksgiving!

No comments: