thankfulness

I wish upon a glimmering star,My hopes as distant and as far. So if this wish does not come true,I__ thankful for the few that do.

What are you most thankful for?_ she asked.My reply came easily. __eing too blessed to have any hope of answering that question.

Thank you for the day and night,for rainy spells and summer__ light.Thank you for the skies of blueand puffy clouds in grayish hue.Thank you for the gigglefestsand midnight__ cloak to hasten rest.Thank you for tomorrow newand yesterday__ tomorrow too.Thank you for ____ glad we met__nd also for __e haven__ yet.__hank you for the peace of mind a grateful soul doth always find.

It__ not about some principled debate as to whether I should focus on what I have, or on what I don__ have. Rather, it__ about being thankful that I have the privilege to enjoy the former, and the opportunity to contemplate the latter.

Sometimes we focus so much on what we don't have that we fail to see, appreciate, and use what we do have!

We should live every day like people who have just been rescued from the moon.

Do you consider yourself a blessing or just another person?

Challenges are inevitable. Happiness is optional.

Adversity is inevitable. Staying positive is optional.

Problems are inevitable. Staying in control of your emotions is optional.

Only one wish I have, and that is to die a happy man.

Appreciation involves being alert to the positive aspects of the current situation and feeling thankful for what one has and for one's circumstances. This requires not only a positive perspective in the present but also conscious awareness of features in the surround. The latter, in fact, is something that may be surprisingly rare. Especially when we are engaging in routine activities, we often do so mindlessly (Langer, 1997) or as though we were on automatic pilot (Cialdini, 1993). If we learn to bring our attention to the current state, we can choose to focus on positive aspects of the situation and to remind ourselves of the potential sources of good feelings that might otherwise pass unnoticed.

Until I realize that it__ all I gift, I can hold all of it and yet receive none of it.

Gratitude is the real treasure God wants us to find, because it isn't the pot of gold but the rainbow that colors our world.

Mother! what a world of affection is comprised in that single word; how little do we in the giddy round of youthful pleasure and folly heed her wise counsels. How lightly do we look upon that zealous care with which she guides our otherwise erring feet, watches with feelings which none but a mother can know the gradual expansion of our youth to the riper yours of discretion. We may not think of it then, but it will be recalled to our minds in after years, when the gloomy grave or a fearful living separation has placed her far beyond our reach, and her sweet voice of sympathy and consolation for the various ills attendant upon us sounds in our ears no more. How deeply then we regret a thousand deeds that we have done contrary to her gentle admonitions! How we sign for those days once more, that we may retrieve what we have done amiss and make her kind heart glad with happiness! Alas! once gone they can never be recalled, and we grow mournfully sad with the bitter reflection.

In the Christian community thankfulness is just what it is anywhere else in the Christian life. Only he who gives thanks for little things receives the big things. We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts He has in store for us, because we do not give thanks for daily gifts. We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measure of spiritual knowledge, experience, and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly for the highest good. Then we deplore the fact that we lack the deep certainty, the strong faith, and the rich experience that God has given to others, and we consider this lament to be pious. We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts. How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from Him the little things? If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.

To fight discouragement, remind yourself of the basics: I can write.I have the opportunity to do so. I love what I write. Now smile and be thankful.

Without darkness, we may never know how bright the stars shine. Without battles, we could not know what victory feels like. Without adversity, we may never appreciate the abundance in our lives. Be thankful, not only for the easy times, but for every experience that has made you who you are.