Today it rained. What's so wonderful about rain? For starters, I LOVE the smell of rain! I love the sound it makes as it makes its way down the roof of my house. I love how our corner of the earth is so green, because our plants are able to soak up the water when it rains. I'm also very grateful that it rains so much because we also are able to collect water for our own nourishment. But greatest reason I love the rain is because it reminds me of the many happy days I had spent as a child jumping and stomping barefooted through every puddle I could possibly find, or cuddled up with my mother by our heater as she read my brother and I stories.... Remembering these things fills me with an overwhelming sense of gratitude knowing that the Lord decided that today was a good day to let it rain.
Another reason I loved/am grateful for today is that we (my parents and I) had Family Home Evening [FHE]. The typical FHE, in case you were wondering, generally consists of an opening song and prayer, which is closely followed by a lesson, an activity, a closing song and prayer, and usually a treat of some sort or another. ANYWAYS, I was especially grateful for FHE this evening because I got to give the lesson. Generally I don't especially love giving the lesson (mostly because I end up all teary and sniffly), but the topic I chose got me all excited and bursting with happiness. My chosen topic, you guessed it, GRATITUDE.
Now, you may or may not ask yourself this question but, what exactly is Gratitude? As far as I can tell gratitude is a feeling or attitude expressed in acknowledgement of something you have received or will receive.
Why is having gratitude so important?
Not only is it polite, but it make you feel wonder and happy inside and out!... It also shows others how much you appreciate the things that they are doing/have done/will do for you whether you asked them for their help or not. I feel that we often times forget to express just how grateful we are for the things we have....and we especially tend to forget to thank Him from which all our blessings flow from.
Setting politeness aside, it's also quite beneficial to your personal health and happiness! Apparently a study was conducted where researchers had one group of students write for 20 minutes each day about things they were grateful for, while a second wrote about things that made them angry, and a third wrote about things that were just plain random. The researchers found that those who were the happiest (and the most healthy) throughout the semester were those who were in the "grateful group". WHO KNEW just how wonderful the benefits of expressing your gratitude could be!? I don't know about you, but I would love it if I could forego sickness for at least one whole semester! Besides, when people are not grateful they tend to complain...and that isn't good for or appreciated by anyone.
Many great blessings have been promised to those who are grateful. The Lord said, "He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more" (D&C 78:19).
What should I be grateful for?
Here are a few good examples I came up with that may or may not apply to you:
™The Gospel
Jesus
Christ
Heavenly Father
the Temple
a family that
loves and cares for me
a wonderful boyfriend
puppies
hot chocolate
cars
warm socks
delicious
food
books
electricity
music
The list could go on forever, however, I'm sure you understand exactly what I'm getting at...so I'll stop.
President Thomas S. Monson emphasized the importance of giving thanks to the Lord "in all things" as well as to those around us in his October, 2010 General Conference address; "Gratitude is a divine principle... Regardless of our circumstances, each of us has much for which to be grateful if we will but pause and contemplate our blessings...A grateful heart, then, comes through
expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His blessings and to
those around us for all that they bring into our lives. This requires conscious
effort—at least until we have truly learned and cultivated an attitude
of gratitude." ("The Divine Gift of Gratitude").
With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I felt that it was appropriate to remind those around me that we aren't limited to being grateful for what we have just once a year during the holiday....it is something that we must try to do every single day of our lives. Not only will we grow into wonderfully happy people by being more grateful, but through our influence and example....others will want to do the same.....imagine, if every single person on earth were thankful at the exact same moment in time.... around the globe, you would see miraculous changes. You have to make the change in order for there to be a change.
I love you all!
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