Gratitude

1.  At the end of the day, think of five things you are grateful for.  Repeat this every day for a week.  At the beginning, you may find yourself thankful for very general things:  life, health, family.  Every day, try to be more specific about what you are grateful for, including things that have happened that day.

2.  Meditate on God’s lovingkindness.  Throughout the day, try to “spot” his lovingkindness in the events of the day.  Remember that “The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord” (Psalm 33:5).  Psalm 136 may be a good place to start.  It begins and ends with the exhortation, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”  The middle of the Psalm is a list of reminders of ways God has been good, followed by the refrain, “For His lovingkindess is everlasting.”  What events from your past would you add to this Psalm?

3.  Think of a current situation or a troubling memory from your past that you feel is not yet behind you.  Perhaps it’s an emotional memory that you remember at unwelcome times, and you feel you have some “unfinished business” associated with this memory.  For the next few minutes, think about this experience.  At first it may seem that the event you are thinking of might not have had any positive effects upon your life.  However, sometimes even when bad things happen, they ultimately have positive consequences, things we can now be grateful for.  Try to focus on the positive aspects or consequences of this difficult experience.  As the result of this event, what kinds of things do you now feel thankful or grateful for?  How has this event benefited you as a person?  How have you grown?  Were there personal strengths that grew out of your experience?  How has the event made you better able to meet the challenges of the future?  How has the event put your life into perspective?  How has this event helped you appreciate the truly important people and things in your life?  In sum, how can you be thankful for the beneficial consequences that having happened?