Decision, Part II

The second thing is to adopt an attitude of gratitude. God wants us to be happy but He also wants us to be grateful. Those of you who are parents, how do you respond when your children are grateful for the things you give them? Doesn’t it bring you joy and make you want to give them more? And even if you are not a parent, it’s the same with friends and other family members – when the things you do for others are appreciated you are more likely to continue doing nice things. But if your child or friend or sibling or whoever doesn’t appreciate the things you do, how motivated are you to do more? Not very. God delights in you and me, He is delighted by us. That thought alone makes me happy, that God is delighted in my happiness. So I try to remember to be grateful. One of the tasks that therapists and counselors give their clients who are depressed is for them to write down things they are thankful for, even the smallest little thing. It helps them to focus more on what is good in their lives rather than dwelling on the bad. Writing a gratitude list is a great place to start learning to be grateful. I read an article in Simple Living about a woman who created a gratitude bracelet – she calls it her “gracelet.” It’s a bracelet of beads that she wears all the time and all throughout the day she will touch a bead and think about one thing she is grateful for. There is irrefutable research showing physiological and emotional benefit from counting your blessings – it’s good for your body and your spirit. You can actually physically change the neural pathways in your brain by doing a physical motion like touching a bead each time you have a positive thought. That is a powerful thing.

Brother David Steindl-Rast wrote, "Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful, then no matter how much we have we will not be happy - because we will always want to have something else or something more." Brother David is a Benedictine monk who has been preaching the grateful life for more than 50 years, collaborating with colleagues like Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen. He has a web site gratefulness.org that is just an excellent resource on learning to live a grateful life. This is an excerpt from his site on getting some perspective and being grateful:

* If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
* If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or wrath... you are more blessed than three billion people in the world, about 60% of the world population.
* If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep... you are richer than 75% of this world.
* If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace... you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.
* If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful... you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

We're a fortunate group of people.

To be continued...