Happy Thanksgiving!!

Through divice intervention, those who were lepers wer spared from a cruel, ligering death and given a new lease on life. THe expressed gratitude by one merited Master's blessing, the ingratitude shown by the nine, His disappointment.

Like the leprosy of yesterycar are the piagues of today. The linger; they debiliatate; they destroy. They are to be found everywhere. Their pervasiveness knows no boundaries. We know them as selfishness, greed, indulgence, cruelty, and crime, to identify but a few. Surfeited with their poison, we tend to criticize, to complain, to blame, and slowly but surely to abandon the positives and adopt the negatives of life.

A popular refrain from the 1940s captured the thought:

Accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on the affirmative

Don't mess with Mr. In-between

Good advice then. Good advice now.

Life is not easy, yet...there are people that choose to make life even harder. I'm not saying I'm perfect by any means, as I am too sometimes easily affected by the negativism that surrounds us. Last week my visiting teachers came over to share their message with me. They gave me a Gratitude Journal. At first I thought it was a very cute idea and decided that maybe I would give it a try. I was having a kinda of a rough week and found myself surrounded by a lot of negativism. As the week went on I had the opportunity to vent with a few friends and it was great, but still somewhat negative. This past weekend I found myself thinking about that gratitude journal. I found myself thinking about what really matters and what are the things that we're going to take with us from this life. I'm still pondering about that question, but one thing that I found out for sure is that I want to be around people that makes me feel good. I wanto to be surrounded by friends that see the beauty in life and share those with me. I want to have around me those that WANT to be around me.

So after my "weird" week, I wanted to do a Family Home Evening and invite some friends over. I wanted to share the gratitude journal with some friends and talk about good things. I decided to go to the church website to read something on gratitude and found on the very main page a cute video with a messages about gratitude. I thought I was really inspired (silly me) when I remembered that it is Thanksgiving Week afterall, lol...
Coinsidense or not, I think it came at the right time for me and I really enjoyed our FHE. A few friend were not able to come, so I decided to post some of the things I read among with the video. (copy and past the link).

I just want to wish a wonderful Thanksgiving week to everybody and say that I'm very grateful for the Gospel. I'm grateful to be a wife, daughter and a mother. I'm grateful for my wonderful family and for dear friends that loves me for who I am.

What is gratitude?

Gratitude is a feeling of thankfulness for blessing or benefist we have received. Greatful people are quick to aknowledge the kindness and help they receive from our Heanvenly Father and those around them.

Where there is gratitude there is courtesy, there is a concern for the hapiness and well-being of others.

How will developing a deeper level of gratitude affect my life?

A grateful heart is the beginning of greatness. Gratitude builds humility as we recognize an act of kindness, service, or caring from someone else. True gratitude is a foundation for faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being. Being grateful leads us to look outside ourselves and turn to the bestower of the blessings.

As we regularly express our gratitude to our Heavenly Father, we cultivate an uplifting attitude. The Savior has promised, “He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious” (D&C 78:19). Bitterness, resentful feelings, or mean-spiritedness cannot exist in a grateful heart. Greater happiness is achieved as deeper gratitude is developed.

How did Jesus Christ show gratitude?

The Savior, Jesus Christ, lived a life of gratitude. He expressed gratitude to His Heavenly Father in prayer when performing miracles (see John 11:41) and for earthly things such as food (see Matthew 15:36), and He gave credit to Heavenly Father for giving us all things (see Matthew 11:27).

The Savior did not seek His own will, but showed gratitude and appreciation to His Heavenly Father through obedience to all He was commanded to do. We too can show this kind of gratitude to our Heavenly Father by living “in thanksgiving daily” (Alma 34:38) and keeping the commandments.

VIDEO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tuwid8_O8dk&feature=player_embedded

Gratitude Journal

Keep a gratitude journal. Every night, list at least 3 things that happened this day that you are grateful for. What it will begin to do is a change your perspective of your day and your life! If you can learn on what you have, you will always see that the universe is abundant; YOU WILL HAVE MORE!! If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never have enough!