Surefire Ways to Develop a Thankful Attitude
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Surefire Ways to Develop a Thankful Attitude
by Chris Widener
Spend some time thinking about how good you have it. We know this, but we don't often spend time pondering it. Doing so will shape and mold your attitude and develop healthy thought patterns that will make you more thankful all of the time.
As the old hymn goes, "Count Your Blessings, Name Them One By One." Take some time and write down every single thing you have in your life to be thankful about. Do this with your children if you have some, and you will all be astounded at all the good things in your life.
Look down the socioeconomic chain instead of up. Focusing our thoughts on the things we don't have, while being a motivator, can also be a source of envy and greed. Focusing, at least on a semi-regular basis, on those who have less than us, causes us to be thankful for what we have.
Go work at a food bank. The more success we achieve, the more apt we are to live our lives around others who are successful while eliminating or drastically reducing our contact with those who are less fortunate than ourselves. Working at a food bank will open your eyes once again to a world you may have forgotten about.
Send a good-sized check on a regular basis. To whatever charity you choose, of course. Richard Foster says in his book Money, Sex, and Power, that money desires to be loved, courted, desired and hoarded. Giving money away breaks the power money can wield over us. Remember, money isn't the root of evil, the love of money is the roots of all kinds of evil. Giving a good chunk away on a regular basis keeps things in perspective.
Simplify. Ralph Waldo Emerson said that the true measure of a man's wealth is in the things he can afford not to buy. When we simplify, we realize how we can make do on so much less. It makes us thankful for all the extra's we have most of the time. Read the classic "Walden." If you really want to get radical, fast for a day or two. You will really be thankful when you get to eat again!
Remember, ultimately what we have has been given to us. Yes, we work hard, but Someone allows us the breath to breathe each moment. Billy Graham was asked what surprised him most about life and he answered "The brevity of it." Life is short. We can't take it for granted. We should remember that life, and success, is a gift. That is something to be thankful for.
Surefire Ways to Develop a Thankful Attitude
by Chris Widener
Spend some time thinking about how good you have it. We know this, but we don't often spend time pondering it. Doing so will shape and mold your attitude and develop healthy thought patterns that will make you more thankful all of the time.
As the old hymn goes, "Count Your Blessings, Name Them One By One." Take some time and write down every single thing you have in your life to be thankful about. Do this with your children if you have some, and you will all be astounded at all the good things in your life.
Look down the socioeconomic chain instead of up. Focusing our thoughts on the things we don't have, while being a motivator, can also be a source of envy and greed. Focusing, at least on a semi-regular basis, on those who have less than us, causes us to be thankful for what we have.
Go work at a food bank. The more success we achieve, the more apt we are to live our lives around others who are successful while eliminating or drastically reducing our contact with those who are less fortunate than ourselves. Working at a food bank will open your eyes once again to a world you may have forgotten about.
Send a good-sized check on a regular basis. To whatever charity you choose, of course. Richard Foster says in his book Money, Sex, and Power, that money desires to be loved, courted, desired and hoarded. Giving money away breaks the power money can wield over us. Remember, money isn't the root of evil, the love of money is the roots of all kinds of evil. Giving a good chunk away on a regular basis keeps things in perspective.
Simplify. Ralph Waldo Emerson said that the true measure of a man's wealth is in the things he can afford not to buy. When we simplify, we realize how we can make do on so much less. It makes us thankful for all the extra's we have most of the time. Read the classic "Walden." If you really want to get radical, fast for a day or two. You will really be thankful when you get to eat again!
Remember, ultimately what we have has been given to us. Yes, we work hard, but Someone allows us the breath to breathe each moment. Billy Graham was asked what surprised him most about life and he answered "The brevity of it." Life is short. We can't take it for granted. We should remember that life, and success, is a gift. That is something to be thankful for.
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Comments
I would add to the list of suggestion of things to do to help keep things in perspective: clean out your closet. Throw out the garbage you find there, take the cloths that are decent but don't fit anymore to goodwill. Then, go shopping at goodwill. Not only are you likely to meet some remarkable people, you'll be saving money too.
(If you don't have goodwill in your area, it's essentially a reseller that takes donations of clothing, toys and ammenities in fair to good shape and sells them at really reasonable prices so folks in your area who might not be able to afford full price retail can still get decent clothes to wear and some nice toys for their kids.)
Shopping for my casual cloths there reminds me of a couple of things... someone shopping there wants the same feeling of self confidence I want when I put on a good pair of pants and a decent shirt, so I should toss the '70s bell bottoms in the trash instead of foisting it on Goodwill. Also, what I might consider a great bargain is barely affordable for some folks. I count myself fortunate in many ways.
Posted by Jerry Carter At 07:27:04 On 25/11/2003 | - Website - |
Some years ago I took a class about prosperity (through the church in which I was active). There were several exercises. One was to write and send a thank you note every day for a week or a month -- sending each note to someone to whom we had a reason to be grateful (this often makes the day for the person receiving the note, and helps the sender realize how fortunate we are!). Another was to take a few moments at the end of each day and think of 5 things for which to be grateful that day. We were encouraged to tithe 10% to charities (there was NO push to donate it to the church; the emphasis was actually to look to food banks, womens' shelters, Mercy Corps, etc. - whatever organizations one felt were working to make the world a better place). There was also a strong push to put 10% of every check into savings and to get rid of unsecured debt.
My wife and I adopted pretty much all of the practices that were encouraged and the results are rather amazing really. But the most important one, I think, is to actively cultivate an 'attitude of gratitude'.
Good post there, Tom. Cheers.
Posted by Joe Litton At 22:51:54 On 24/11/2003 | - Website - |
My kids still have a thing about wearing anything from there, so we just tell them she found them at the GW Boutique!
Posted by Thomas Duff At 08:08:25 On 25/11/2003 | - Website - |