The Hall of Awesomeness

I just found out that in America at the moment it’s Thanksgiving. I want to write to you today about the spirit of thanksgiving. How odd that here is Australia it’s election day.   Talk about worlds apart.  As I was thinking about what to write and realising most of my American readers are probably going to be spending the weekend with friends and family I thought I would write a short post on what it means to be thankful.

Being Thankful

I am not one of those people who believe you should be thankful for everything.  I do believe that you can be thankful for what you have.  Jesus said that he who is faithful in little is faithful in much.  I would also say, he who is thankful in little is thankful in much.   Say you got up this morning and went off to work.  Along the way several bad things happened to you.  Such as: the car wouldn’t start.  How do you handle a situation like that without going nuclear?  Here’s how I do it.  You need to learn to focus on what’s going right than what’s going wrong.

Thankfulness and perceptions

A pastor I once heard said that he would see people on a daily basis who didn’t have enough money.  Now that’s a real problem.   He would often ask, ‘how’s the kidney’s going?’ to which they would respond, ‘fine’.  So be thankful that you aren’t having kidney problems and so on.  I find that when things go wrong I almost always reach a negative conclusion before a positive one.  In such cases I will frame everything as a disaster instead of looking at it as an opportunity to be thankful for something else.  I have tried this and it really has made a difference to my life.  Especially when you begin to speak it out loud.  Make sure people aren’t standing around when you say it of course!

How can I be less grumpy 

Thankfulness is tied to an emotion.  As you begin to say and think thankfulness you will feel the emotions attached to it.  I am yet to write on this but will do shortly.  The underlying emotions you have are largely governed by your inner thoughts.  If you begin to cultivate an attitude of thankfulness for what’s going right, what’s going wrong won’t seem like such a big deal.  As you cultivate these attitudes (I am still working on it) you will find like I have that it will transform the way you see life.  You will begin to see opportunities you never knew existed.  Why?  Because you have began to be thankful for what you have and tied to that is the idea that something good is always going on in your life.   Things are never as bad as they appear.  Sure, you may be bankrupt, out of a job, going through a messy divorce but that’s just a problem.  There is something good going on in your life right now.  Focus on that and I promise you things will get better over time.

What you need to take from this post is a sense that in some area of your life you are not being thankful.  Remember, emotions are tied to thoughts.  You don’t just get frustrated and grumpy.  You begin to look at some problem and become grumpy at it’s implications.  Don’t let these negative emotions rule your heart.  Take authority over them and begin to cultivate a thankful attitude.  You will find at first, that you will struggle to focus on what’s going right.  But, if you stick with it, two to three times a day and speak it out loud, you will begin to see just how many good things you have in your life and what you have going for you.   Try it… I did and it’s helped me get through some terrible times.

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