Gratitude and happiness

I know I might be sounding like a broken record, but I can't get this post out of my head so I need to write it down for the world to read and then go back to living it in my own life.
I've been thinking a lot about trials (as any of you following my blog will know) and about frustrations, big and small on a daily basis. I've also thought a lot about what a friend of mine once said, you can't be grateful and unhappy at the same time. There is a lot of truth in that.

Any time I have been getting frustrated about just about anything lately I have tried to find something to be grateful for. And it has really worked. I have been more positive, calmer on the inside and truly more happy about life. I'm not saying there aren't appropriate times of mourning and disappointment, hurt or anger, but overall I do think it is too easy to get into a rut of complaining, being frustrated and seeing the greener grass on the other side. The grass will always be greener on one side. But it will always be browner on the other side. And if you can remember that things could always be worse you can usually find something to be grateful for.

At first I had to force myself to find things to be grateful for when I was getting really upset. Over time it is becoming easier. I have had a beautiful, peaceful month and have found a lot to be grateful for. There is ALWAYS something to be grateful for.

Take my friend Devon for example. Her adorable little boy has a rare neuromuscular disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy with Respiratory Distress (SMARD). With it come many frustrations, I am sure. Probably disappointments and hurt, too, as she watches him struggle with this physical disease. Yet, she is able to look for and find the beauty in her life as she wrote the other day about all the things she loves about her sweet son. It is such a touching entry I had to share. She is an inspiration.

Marjorie P. Hinckley writes:

'A grateful heart will give you a touch of refinement that can come in no other way.
I went to high school during the days of the famous Depression. It was a miserable experience. But, in a way, I wish you could have been there with us. Somehow it helped me to appreciate much more the prosperity we now enjoy. I know some of you think you are on a tight budget, and you are. I am glad if you are. But it is a tight budget because you have nothing else to compare with it. It isn't your fault that you have had three square meals a day, most every day of your life. It isn't your fault that you have never been hungry in your life. It isn't your fault that somehow or other you have always been able to get a new pair of shoes, whether you needed them or not. It isn't your fault that you have at least five or six changes of clothing in your crowded closets. But all of this makes it doubly hard for you to be truly grateful.

And when you finally develop a little gratitude in your heart, make up your mind to express it. "Appreciation unexpressed is not appreciation." If you can't find someone to say thank you to for something, just take a look at your toothbrush and say, "Thank you for being. You are a wonderful little gadget."

"Thank you" is a wonderful phrase. Use it. It will add stature to your soul. Never let a day go by without saying thank you to someone for something-and especially to your Heavenly Father.'

(from "Glimpses into the Life and Heart of Marjorie Pay Hinckley" pg. 90-91)

There are so many things I am grateful for right now but I'm not going to start a list tonight. My November posts from last year have a whole bunch of them. I wrote those to help me through a tough time. Right now I'm grateful that I've been getting better at being grateful. I hope it sticks with me!