Some Thoughts about Gratitude
In our continued effort as parents, Todd and I started reading "From Innocence to Entitlement," another Love and Logic book. So far it is great! As humans we tend to want more and more, and be thankful less and less. We see this pattern over and over throughout history and in the scriptures. And I am definitely guilty as well. There were a couple quotes I wanted to share about gratitude from this book.
"Henry Ward Beecher once said, 'A proud man is seldom a grateful man for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.' How often do we, or our children, stop to realize and appreciate the many gifts placed in our laps? We mistakenly believe, in an entitled fashion, that whatever good fortune we experience is somehow due us: it is payment just for living. We stand and brush the blessings from our laps as if they were simply crumbs from a meal we refuse to enjoy. We continuously ask for more, and yet this kind of entitled attitude never brings anyone happiness."
From Melody Beattie, "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."
From Charles E. Jefferson, "Gratitude is born in hearts that take time to count up past mercies."
From Dennis Prager, "Yes, there is a 'secret to happiness" - and it is gratitude. All happy people are grateful, and ungrateful people cannot be happy. We tend to think that it is being unhappy that leads people to complain, but it is truer to say that it is complaining that leads to people becoming unhappy."
This year we saw an idea in the Friend magazine to make a gratitude tree to recognize your blessings all month, and Savannah has really enjoyed this!
We hope you have a happy, thankful-filled Thanksgiving!
Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught (Give Thanks in all Things, General Conference, May 2003):
"We have so much for which to give thanks. First and foremost, we are thankful for our Savior Jesus Christ. Under the plan of the Father, He created the world. Through His prophets, He revealed the plan of salvation with its accompanying commandments and ordinances. He came into mortality to teach and show us the way. He suffered and paid the price for our sins if we would repent. He gave up His life, and He conquered death and rose from the grave that we all will live again. He is the Light and Life of the World...When we give thanks in all things, we see hardships and adversities in the context of the purpose of life. We are sent here to be tested. There must be opposition in all things. We are meant to learn and grow through that opposition, through meeting our challenges, and through teaching others to do the same"
"Henry Ward Beecher once said, 'A proud man is seldom a grateful man for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.' How often do we, or our children, stop to realize and appreciate the many gifts placed in our laps? We mistakenly believe, in an entitled fashion, that whatever good fortune we experience is somehow due us: it is payment just for living. We stand and brush the blessings from our laps as if they were simply crumbs from a meal we refuse to enjoy. We continuously ask for more, and yet this kind of entitled attitude never brings anyone happiness."
From Melody Beattie, "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."
From Charles E. Jefferson, "Gratitude is born in hearts that take time to count up past mercies."
From Dennis Prager, "Yes, there is a 'secret to happiness" - and it is gratitude. All happy people are grateful, and ungrateful people cannot be happy. We tend to think that it is being unhappy that leads people to complain, but it is truer to say that it is complaining that leads to people becoming unhappy."
This year we saw an idea in the Friend magazine to make a gratitude tree to recognize your blessings all month, and Savannah has really enjoyed this!
We hope you have a happy, thankful-filled Thanksgiving!
Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught (Give Thanks in all Things, General Conference, May 2003):
"We have so much for which to give thanks. First and foremost, we are thankful for our Savior Jesus Christ. Under the plan of the Father, He created the world. Through His prophets, He revealed the plan of salvation with its accompanying commandments and ordinances. He came into mortality to teach and show us the way. He suffered and paid the price for our sins if we would repent. He gave up His life, and He conquered death and rose from the grave that we all will live again. He is the Light and Life of the World...When we give thanks in all things, we see hardships and adversities in the context of the purpose of life. We are sent here to be tested. There must be opposition in all things. We are meant to learn and grow through that opposition, through meeting our challenges, and through teaching others to do the same"
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