Friday, November 23, 2012

Thankful for Thankfulness

Thanksgiving is over.
(Remember, our family gets an extra day of it!)

Most things have been consumed; there are just the right amounts of left-overs.  The lights are up; the tree goes up tomorrow.  We spent two wonderful days with our family...man, they're great.  My mister has now given me permission to listen to Christmas music in the car. 

As I look ahead to the coming Christmas season, I think back to the lessons learned this past year.  The biggest one for me is thankfulness.  I am learning (still learning...it's a process) to be a more thankful person.

Honestly, that's very hard for me.  Ask anyone who knows me well - I'm definitely a half-empty kind of a girl.  I'm highly stressed, I've got numerous continual health challenges (shred, yeah right), and some people that I dearly love are facing huge challenges as well.  It's very easy, no, it's more than easy, it's very natural for me to complain and question all of the time.  I'm great at throwing myself pity parties.  I probably drive those closest to me nuts on many occasions.

This year, I've been working very hard on being thankful.  When I get down in the dumps, I'm trying very consciously to stop focusing on myself and start being thankful.  Truly, it's hard to completely despair when you're listing your blessings.  Funny thing... I've seen that often times my thankfulness has turned in to a deep desire to not only be mindful of the things that I can be thankful for, but also a desire to pray for others.  I've spent much time lately lifting those I know up to our Father.

I wouldn't say that I've arrived and that I'm an expert; I'll probably complain about something tomorrow!  Nor do I say this to try to convey how good I am; I'm not.  What I am is a child of God, who is being molded and who is trying to change her way of thinking.  Some days it works; other days it's harder.  But I will keep trying as I think it's definitely a good direction to be headed.

So today, as I wrap up this Thanksgiving season, I'm thankful for the ability to be thankful.

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