“Gratitude” – My focus is on an attitude of gratitude. I love poetry and want to share a poem by Charles Swindoll
My Attitude
“The longer I live, the more I realize
the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude, to me, is more important than
education, than money, than circumstances,
than failures, than successes, than appearance,
giftedness or skill. It will make or break
a company, church or home.
The remarkable thing is that we have
a choice every day regarding the attitude
we will embrace for that day.
We cannot change our past.
We cannot change the fact that
people will act in a certain way.
We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the one
string we have, and that is our attitude.
I am convinced that life is
l0% of what happens to me
and 90% how I react to it.
And so it is with you.
We are in charge of our attitudes.”
For those of you who have been to my house in the summer you know I also love roses, all along the front of my home is a rose bed, when their all in bloom it is a breath taking place to be. It is easy to be grateful for the roses in our lives.
In President Hinckley’s book “Way to be” he gives 9 ways to be happy and make something of your life, the first B is “Be Grateful,” he tells us that Gratitude creates the most wonderful feeling. It can resolve disputes. It can strengthen friendships. It makes us better men and women. The habit of saying thank you is the mark of a cultivated mind”.
Spring is just around the corner, and we know every rose has its thorn; my roses are a bed of brown canes with thorns. Before I can have those beautiful roses each year, I have to go out and prune the dead stems, no matter how careful I am, I end up getting stabbed & scratched by the thorns. It’s not as easy to be grateful for the thorns in our lives.
President Brigham Young said, “I do not know of any, excepting the unpardonable sin, that is greater than the sin of ingratitude.” Regardless of our trials, with the abundance we have today, we would be ungrateful if we did not appreciate our blessings.
Stephen Post the author of” Why good things happen to good people” has researched the benefits and power of gratitude. In his research he discovered why giving thanks is good for our health. His studies have shown that love-related qualities—like gratitude—actually make us physically healthier
Gratitude Defends
Just 15 minutes a day focusing on the things you’re grateful for will significantly increase your body’s natural antibodies.
Gratitude Sharpens
Naturally grateful people are more focused mentally and measurably less vulnerable to clinical depression.
Gratitude Calms
A grateful state of mind induces a physiological state called resonance that’s associated with healthier blood pressure and heart rate.
Gratitude Strengthens
Caring for others is draining. But grateful caregivers are healthier and more capable than less grateful ones.
Gratitude Heals
Recipients of donated organs who have the most grateful attitudes heal faster.
Bonnie D. Parkin in Conference 2007 said, Gratitude is a Spirit-filled principle. It opens our minds to a universe permeated with the richness of a living God.
She tells the story of a family going through a difficult time. It was hard for them not to focus on their challenges. The mother wrote: “Our world had completely crumpled, so we turned to Heavenly Father for guidance. Almost immediately we realized that we were surrounded by goodness and were being cheered on from every side. We began as a family to express our gratitude to each other as well as to the Lord daily. A close friend pointed out that our family’s ‘blessing basket’ was overflowing. From that conversation came sort of game, which my children and I grew to love. Before family prayer each night we would talk about how our day had gone and then share with each other the blessings we could add to our ‘blessing basket.’ The more we expressed gratitude, the more there was to be grateful for. We felt the love of the Lord. 
What would a “blessing basket” add to our families?
In 2007 for Christmas I made gratitude journals to give, inside those dollar store journals I typed, At the end of each day ask yourself? Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to me? Write down one thing you are grateful for! Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Thank you, God, for everything – the big things and the small, for ‘every good gift comes from thee’ – the giver of them all – and all too often we accept without any thanks or praise, the gifts God sends as blessings each day in many ways – first, thank him for the little things that often come our way, the things we take for granted. But don’t mention when we pray, then, thank him for the “miracles” we are much too blind to see. And give us new awareness of our many gifts from thee, and help us to remember that the key to life and living is to make each prayer – a prayer of thanks – and every day thanksgiving.
What would a gratitude journal add to our families?
There was a time in my life when there had been too many thorns – I was in a bed of despair and ingratitude – at that time someone cared enough about me to share the poem
TODAY – A new day
These quotes were also shared -
Early in life I decided that I would not be overcome by events. My philosophy has been that, regardless of the circumstances, I shall not be overcome, but will try to be happy. Life is not easy for any of us. But is a continual challenge, it is up to us to be cheerful and to be strong, so that those who depend on us may draw strength from our example.
Martha Washington - “I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may be; for I have learned from experience that the greater part of my happiness or misery depends upon my disposition and not upon my circumstances.”
And last - Nothing is easier than fault-finding; no talent, no self-denial, no brains are required to set up in the grumbling business.
At that time I was visiting teaching a woman who was also going through some severe trials; I turned my thoughts to her, what could I do to make her days brighter. This became a turning point in my life, I soon began to forget my own thorns and see how I could bring roses into her life.
Being Grateful in any circumstance is a Choice! Too many people are unhappy because they haven’t learned Gratitude. We are sole responsible to find happiness in our lives. The more Gratitude we show – The More we will have to be Grateful For! We need to put on those Rose Colored Glasses!
President Monson has said – The future is as bright as our faith
In the story of the ten lepers, why do you think the Lord asked, “Where are the nine?” Of the ten men who were healed, only one returned to express gratitude. This must have disappointed our Savior.
Do we recognize the Lord’s hand in our lives? Do we murmur, complain, resist, or criticize. The leper’s expression of gratitude was recognized by the Savior as an expression of his faith. As we pray and express gratitude to a loving but unseen Heavenly Father, we are also expressing our faith in Him. Gratitude is our sweet acknowledgment of the Lord’s hand in our lives. The Lord counsels not to murmur because it is then – difficult for the Spirit to work with us.
Trials are frightening. And yet the Lord said: “Be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings there of – are yours – and the riches of eternity are yours. “And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious.”
The kind of gratitude that receives even trials with thanksgiving requires a broken heart and a contrite spirit, humility to accept that which we cannot change, willingness to turn everything over to the Lord—even when we do not understand, thankfulness for hidden opportunities yet to be revealed. Then comes a sense of peace.
When was the last time you thanked the Lord for a trial or tribulation? It is sometimes difficult to express gratitude when we are under stress, yet it is often these situations that permit significant spiritual growth. Have you ever offered a prayer of just Thanksgiving and not ask for anything?
Prayers don’t need to be eloquent – just simple, specific, and sincere expressions of our gratitude for the everyday blessings we receive.
President David O. McKay observed, “We find in the bitter chill of adversity the real test of our gratitude … , which … goes beneath the surface of life, whether sad or joyous. He has commanded us to be grateful because He knows being grateful will make us happy. Gratitude requires awareness and effort, not only to feel it but to express it.
OUR DEEPEST GRATITUDE should be for the atoning sacrifice of our Savior Jesus Christ. We can never fully comprehend the suffering He endured for us in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, but we can express our gratitude for this great gift in the things we say and the things we do. I know the atonement is real, I am so grateful for what Jesus has done for me to heal the thorns in my life. I am so grateful for the humbling lessons I have learned from those trials.
I would like to share the poem -
Good timber
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow with ease,
The stronger wind, the stronger trees,
The further sky, the greater length,
The more the storm the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
Where thickest lies the forest growth
We find the patriarchs of both.
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.
There will be thorns in our everyday lives; we came here to be tested. We were never promised it would be easy, only worth it – Ida Taylor shares some good advice – Take each day one at a time – One day at a time – this is enough – do not look back and grieve over the past, for it is gone, and do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. Live in the present, and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering.
I know an attitude of gratitude makes me happier.
I wish I had an attitude of gratitude mastered.
We each must make a DAILY choice to look for roses of gratitude. My prayer is we can bloom where we are planted.
Most of this information has been taken from LDS conference talks and poetry I have collected over the years.
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