Gratitude Is the Lifeline to JoySample

Day 10: What If I Don’t Want To Be Thankful?

By Ann Kristen

Read: Psalm 100

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.
Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Reflection:

There are plenty of Bible verses that talk about thanksgiving (there are 71 verses in the New Testament alone), so apparently, being thankful is pretty important. And sometimes… well, I don’t want to be thankful.

Have you ever felt that when so many things in your life are negative, that you just want to yell, “Thanks for nothing!” and leave it at that? I sure have.

The thing is, that is the case with all God’s admonishments; being thankful is for our own good. And, when I’m in a funk, I don’t want to hear that something is for my own good. I always think my reasons for being unthankful are righteous, and I tend to wallow in self-pity instead. And then negativity and anger start to control my life and turn me into a very unpleasant and miserable person.

When I finally wake up once again to the fact that God really does know what He’s talking about - that it isn’t easy to simply leap from negativity to thankfulness. So, I’m sharing a list of simple and easy ways to find your way back to thanksgiving:

Seek and you will find. What are you focusing on? If you’re looking for more negatives, you will find them. Searching for things to be grateful for may be a lot harder, but you will always be surprised when you find joy instead of more reasons to be miserable.

Keep a Gratitude List. I know this sounds dorky, and the idea has made me mad in the past, but this can be as simple as a few words scribbled on a wrinkled piece of paper (although if you buy yourself a pretty journal, it’s way more fun). At first, your entries may be few and even rather snotty (thanks for the bee sting), but eventually you’ll find that you really do have some lovely things to be thankful for.

Stop Complaining. Okay, this is a big one. And hard. But complaining is a bad habit, and like any habit, it can be broken with some focus and determination. Maybe being thankful is too big a first step, but at least if you stop complaining, you’re part of the way towards thankfulness.

Remember that each day is a gift. I have been blessed with amazing people in my life who have taught me so much about dying. They all agreed that what they wanted most was to have just one more day on earth to spend with their loved ones. I try to remember that when I’m facing bad circumstances in my own life.

Find three things to be thankful for. Make a game out of finding three things to be thankful for each day. Make your kids do it too. This will teach them to be thankful, and also provide some laughs when you have to get really creative to think of three.

Say Thank You. I love this one. Thank the people in your life for even the simple services they provide. By looking outward instead of in, you’ll find reasons and people to be thankful for. Plus, seeing the joy on their faces will go a long way towards making you feel thankful, too.

Finally, just know that there will be times in your life when being thankful is the hardest thing you’ll have to do. It really is for your own good, though, and with a little creativity and a whole lot of God, there are always things we can be thankful for.

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