"Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary." -- Margaret Cousins
"Do we make thanksgiving a part of everyday? Amulek counsels us to "live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you." (Alma 34:38)
Are you unhappy and unsatisfied with your life? Perhaps the key to becoming happy and satisfied lies in a grateful heart. In For the Strength of Youth it says, "Live with a spirit of thanksgiving and you will have greater happiness and satisifaction in life. Even in your most difficult times, you can find much to be grateful for. Doing so will strengthen and bless you."
How can we cultivate a life full of gratitude every day?
Pray: In the pattern of prayer set forth by the Lord, we are to thank Him before asking for blessings. Try dedicating one of your daily prayers to express only gratitude. "Pray unto him continually by day, and give thanks unto his holy name by night." (2 Nephi 9:52)
Write: Grab a pen and a notecard and send a note to someone who did something nice for you or you family each week. What about a gratitude journal? Both of these are great Sabbath day activity for the whole family.
Discuss: At dinner or before family prayer each night, ask each member of the family a question. - "What were you most grateful for today." Did you see God's hand work in your life.
Serve: Remember a time when someone did something nice for you. How did you feel? Have you ever served someone and not felt better afterward? I think that might be impossible. Share that feeling and pass it along with a simple act of service."
(quoted from: Seek Learning)
and I would add one more-
Remember: Every Sunday when you partake of the sacrament turn it into a time of thanksgiving. Come to the sacrament time with an inventory of blessings from the previous week. Come wanting to thank Him for His persistent redemptiveness. Come filled with gratitude for His willingness to forgive us, teach us, and carry us in covenant. Thank Him for lending us breath, light, hope, joy, and purpose. (from: True Thanksgiving)
WHAT IT IS
The first thing to do when you wake,
The last thing to do before sleep,
The beginning of every prayer,
The end of every blessing,
The magnet of spirit,
The entry to solace,
The portal to peace,
THANKSGIVING
The prerequisite of perspective,
The acquisition of awareness,
The residue of responsibility,
The essence of experience,
The wonder of all our wonderings,
The fondness of friends,
The foundation of family.
THANKSGIVING
The deepest of holidays,
The purest of motives,
The sweetest of desires,
The surest of faiths,
The presence of God,
The core part of love,
The summum bonum of life.
THANKSGIVING
(poem written By Richard Eyre)
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ...” Philippians 1:3-6
