Find Gratitude
“If you want to find happiness, find gratitude.” ~
When I saw the quote above, my mind immediately went into jukebox mode, retrieved a golden oldie, and began playing the song, “Looking for love in all the wrong places.” Because, just as much as people want to find love and search for it in all the wrong places, people also search for happiness in all the wrong places.
There is a false assumption that happiness can be purchased. If we have enough money, some people claim, we will be happy. We all know that’s a non-starter. Other people believe that fame can bring happiness. So many famous people hire bodyguards because their fame causes others to come after them. When they go out, they long for anonymity. Still others believe that substances or sex can bring them happiness. They learn, sooner or later, that doesn’t work either.
“If you want to find happiness,” Steve Maraboli tells us, “find gratitude.” He is so right. A grateful heart is a happy heart. A grateful person becomes a happy person because the grateful person sees and accepts his or her own state in life. They recognize those who care for them and love them. They realize that they have been given so much. When they express their gratitude, they enter into deeper relationships with others and find fulfillment and, therefore, happiness.
The same holds with our God. When we express gratitude to God, we realize all the ways that God blesses us. I know that I have shared this before; however, it bears repeating. For myself, every morning that I open the chapel, when I pass by the tabernacle, I bow and say, “Thank you, Lord, for giving me another day of life.” I did not wake up on my own. I did not breathe life into myself. I did not allow myself to live through the night. That is all God’s doing. And if I thank God for the great gift of life, I will remember that it is about Him and not about myself. I will be grateful and humble rather than grasping and arrogant.
It is a thin line between the two. If we do not have gratitude, we can easily become grasping. If we are not humble, an arrogance will take over quickly.
If you are looking to be happy and fulfilled today, remember to start and end your day with gratitude.
FAITH ACTION: Count your blessing and render thanks to all to whom thanks are due.