Be thankful for your blessings advises Offaly influencer

I agree with Robert Louis Stevenson, when he wrote, “The person who forgets to be thankful has fallen asleep in life”.

Unfortunately, because the beauties of life are so abundant, sometimes we take them for granted. What are you grateful for?  Better put, in what ways has God blessed you in abundance?  If you are not immediately aware of your blessings from God, that is a good sign that you may need to spend more time “counting your blessings.”  It’s good to keep our eyes on the innumerable blessings God has bestowed upon us, to see them, name them and be joyful in them. 

The more we see them, the more we grow in gratitude, and the more we grow in gratitude, the more we are blessed. More than just a feeling, gratitude is actually a practice: one we can cultivate and even develop, which will transform our experience of ourselves, our lives, and our world. Gratitude is a special gift from God that brings happiness. What better words may we carry in our heart, pronounce with our mouth, write with a pen, than the words, “Thanks be to God”? There is no phrase that may be said so readily, that can be heard with greater joy, felt with more emotion or produced with greater effect.‘Thank you’ is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Our whole life is a life of gratitude.

Even in difficult times there are reasons to be grateful. We are alive. We are loved. We are surrounded by beauty and wonder. And God is near, loving us and supporting us and making a way for us. We know that nothing can separate us from God’s love, no circumstance, no power on earth or in heaven, no trouble or hardship, nothing! Gratitude is fuel for the soul. Without a regular infusion of gratitude we become self-involved, believing that we are the ones responsible for all that we have in our lives. Only by developing the discipline of gratitude can we ensure that we are cognizant of God’s goodness and reliant on him for our daily existence.

Gratitude is a special gift given to us by God. Gratitude is fundamentally about not taking things for granted. It is being thankful for what we have and receive. Thankfulness is a powerful means of drawing near to God.Gratitude makes us take notice of what God has given us. When we think about what we should be grateful for, our eyes are opened to the generosity of God. We realize how much we are given. We see how much we owe God. And it’s not just about the big stuff. When we train our hearts to look for God’s grace we see it in the small things as well. We are and will be forever loved and held by God!

The Awareness of Gratitude

I have a memory of my teacher Mrs. Carroll in first year asking us to write a short essay describing the things in our lives for which we were thankful. I sat for the longest time just staring at that piece of paper. I couldn’t think of a thing for which I was thankful. I was surrounded by gifts, but I didn’t recognize them as gifts, and so I couldn’t begin to express my gratitude for them. I naively assumed that everyone had food and clothing, a loving family and a comfortable home.

I was unaware of how privileged I was to enjoy these things on a daily basis, and simply took them for granted. Gratitude springs from the awareness that we have been given a gift. Often this awareness comes upon us in sudden and unexpected ways. We are walking along and suddenly our breath is taken away by the beauty of the various seasons, or we are talking with a close friend and suddenly we realize what a gift this person has been to us. We’ve been given a gift: something has come to us from outside ourselves – something unexpected and even undeserved – and our lives have been enriched by it. We feel grateful.

Thought for the week

As you’re thought for the week, be thankful for what you have. Be creative. Be innovative. Live life with no excuse and love with no regrets. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. In closing I would like to give you this prayer of gratitude that I have adapted to suit what I am grateful for and maybe you should try and adapt it for what you are grateful and thankful for in your life today.

"Lord, I thank You with profound gratitude for the countless blessings in my life.  Help me to daily become more aware of those blessings and to be grateful for them.  Help me to see that life itself is a gift and that You are active in my life day and night.  Help me to especially see these blessings when life is hard, or when some burden weighs me down.  May I be filled with a grateful heart and always rejoice in Your goodness.  Jesus, I trust in You. Thank you, God. I’m grateful for so many things that you have given me. I am so grateful for the gift of life that you have given me with all its ups and downs. Without you I wouldn’t be here. Without you nothing would be here. Without you nothing would be at all. I’m grateful for my beautiful and loving parents. They love me with every breath of their being, and they work so hard to make sure that I and my family have enough to eat, that I am clothed and that I have a place to sleep. I’ll never know all that they did for me, but I can be grateful for the things that I know. Help me to be a grateful child, and remind me to be grateful in person. If your parents have ended their time on earth and are with God, be thankful for their lives.

I am so grateful for my friends. Even if I have only one, two or a few good friends in my life right now, I’m so grateful. God, you show your love for me through my friends in ways that I sometimes overlook. They give me advice, sometimes when I need it, sometimes when I don’t, which in both situations is a sign of their care for me. They listen to me complain, which I do too much, and they celebrate with me, even if things aren’t always going well for them. They help me to laugh. And they help me to laugh at myself. That alone is reason to be thankful. Help me to always be a good friend in return. I am so grateful for my family. Yes, I know that all families are a little nutty, and mine is no exception. Even Jesus’s family tree had its share of complications.

But I’m thankful that, even with the nuttiness, I’m part of a family that has helped to make me the person I am. I know that they try to love me the best that they can. Help me to be a good family member, trying to help out when I can, make the phone call or pay a visit when they’re lonely, and keep my mouth shut when I should be listening, or when I don’t have anything sensible to add to the conversation. I am so grateful for my job. It’s not always a bed of roses, but at least I have a place to work and I am able to make ends meet. That’s more than many people have. Help me to be a good co-worker, to give people the benefit of the doubt, to care for the people and children who are in need and in extreme poverty with whom I work.

And help me remember that all work done freely and with a loving heart is worthy in your sight. I’m grateful for all the things that I know many people in this world don’t have. And that’s a long list. So I’m grateful for the food. And clean water that is easily available. And clothes. And a roof over my head and my family's head. And heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. I’m grateful that I can go to the doctor and get a check up and even get shots to help me avoid illness. That’s a lot more than most people have. Help me to be grateful, and help me remember that I can help those who have less by being generous, caring, compassionate, merciful and loving. That’s one way of thanking you. Most of all, God, I’m grateful for your presence in my life. You’re everywhere, and if I remember to pay attention I can see your invitation to meet you at every moment of the day. I know that it is you who turn my mind to thoughts of gratitude and I pray to you to be more mindful of the positive during this day than the negative. And when I’m tempted to focus only on the problems and worries and fears, I know that I’m being led away from you.

Amen."