An Attitude of Gratitude

This past week has been probably the most interesting of my summer so far. As things have happened I've had to take a step back and I realized that even though some of the less-then-lovely things were unpleasant, I still needed to acknowledge a thankfulness towards them. So many people in our world hardly ever are grateful for even the good things in life. Whether or not you see the glass as half full or half empty is completely unrelevant to gratitude. When you think about gratitude you automatically think of the good things in your life that you express thankfulness for. For Americans we have a holiday set specifically aside just for giving thanks.

Being grateful is not just about the good things, but the bad as well. In my opinion one of the greatest sins is ingratitude. If we were grateful for all things, even if they are seemingly not in our favor, then we would have a more humble attitude and we would be able to help others out because we could acknowledge that their situation is worse then ours and we'd want to help them.

So for this past week I want to express my gratitude for all the good that happened and everything that didn't seem to be working in my favor.

My poor cat Desert who is nine years old (I have had him half of my life) had some health complications and I was afraid I was going to lose him.
-thank you for emergency vet clinics
-thank you for all the time I've been able to spend with him
-thank you for my caring family
-thank you for his steady improvement the last couple days

Friday I went to UVU with my dear friend Sara so we could figure out our books, finances, and where our classes were. For the past couple months I was under the impression I was awarded a grant from FAFSA only to find out it was an unsubsidized loan. So I'm not going to school this semester.
-thank you for all the stress I won't have with grades, scraping for money, and driving in the snow
-thank you for letting me cancel the loan so easily and drop my classes without a hitch
-thank you for the shady parking and the very little wait
-thank you for being around for the next semester so that I will be able to go

Yesterday I went in to work for a couple hours to help out and then came out to Pleasant Grove to be with my sister since her husband is backpacking with some buddies.
-thank you for air conditioned cars
-thank you for jalepano cheetos
-thank you for Holly and her sweet doggies
-thank you for her amazing king bed

It was a pretty crazy week, but I have been able to survive and I got some perspective. We can all use some perspective in our lives. I'm upset I can't attend school this fall but the relief that came was a blessing by itself. I was terrified I'd have to say goodbye to my cat this week, but he is on the mend thanks to the dedication of my family and a family friend. I normally wouldn't have even had so much cuddle time with him before.

Whether you make lemonade with the lemons life gives you is up to you. Whether or not you do you should still be grateful for those lemons as it means that God is just going on ahead and trying to refine you to the best you can be.


[What are you grateful for?]