How’s your gratitude? Is your natural tendency to be thankful or thankless? It’s too easy in our world to develop an attitude of always wanting more instead of being thankful for what we do have.
There’s an Indian Proverb that says: “Do not blame God for having created the tiger, but thank him for not giving it wings.” There’s always something to be thankful for if we have the right attitude.
You may be going through a tough time in your life and don’t feel very grateful. It’s understandable especially living in challenging times in which we live. When I find myself in this condition I start looking around at what I do have in spite of my worries.
Gradually my attitude begins to change including how I respond to my difficulties.
Sometimes it’s as simple as being aware of things that I normally take for granted like a place to live, electricity, clean running water, food in my refrigerator and even clothes to wear. There are lots of people in the world who are without these basic necessities that I so often take for granted. Or what about being healthy? Sometimes I fail to recognize how fortunate I am to be able to see, hear, smell, taste, walk, touch and talk. These may all seem like little things – that is until you lose one or more of them.
Our thankfulness shouldn’t come and go with our circumstances or by the way we feel. That’s not to say that we try to minimize the tough struggles that we may be dealing with in life. The tough part is to remember that God is always in control and wants us to be joyful, never stop praying and to be thankful.
One single grateful though raised to heaven is the most perfect prayer.
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing