Gratitude

Welcome Everyone to this week's post written by Cindy O'Donnell!  Cindy wins the prize for guessing what movie I referenced last week and then she gets another prize for referencing it again this week!  Gratitude is a tough one, and nobody gets it right all the time.  But I find (like many things in this life) it becomes a practice, something you can just pick up and try again, even if you didn't do it that well the last ten times.  So here is what Cindy had to say:

I am keenly aware of the injustices of this world.  So aware, that I admit, there are days that I can become overwhelmed and begin to believe that’s all there is to this life.  There is a child being shot and killed, a plane disappearing with hundreds of passengers, a ferry boat carrying hundreds of students overturns and most have been found dead or are unaccounted for at this time.  This is just the recent world news.  In my world, I am surrounded by people who are having family and individual conflict, death, divorce, loss of employment, which then causes financial distress, need I go on…I think you have the picture.

What I have come to understand is that because we are surrounded by these circumstances and for some people these circumstances are more a part of their lives than others, it would appear that this world is not a great place to live nor our are lives really that happy.  Human beings tend to focus on the negative or are drawn to the negative, despite the fact, that there is positive in this world.

There is this movie called About Time and its main character can time travel and no, this is not a science fiction movie.  The whole reason I bring this up is that this guy gets the opportunity for “do overs.”  Imagine that!  If things went terribly wrong he jumps in a dark closet clenches his fist and “voila”, he has another chance.  Throughout the movie, Tim, that’s his name, does just that, until the unacceptable happens, there is a death that he can’t prevent.  It is through this death and wise words of wisdom that this character discovers true happiness and it’s not through “do overs” in fact it’s just the opposite.  It’s living each day as though it was a do over.  It’s being in the moment, appreciating all that you have, even when things appear to be going terribly wrong.  It is through appreciation and gratitude that Tim lived out his life as if he was doing it over…not through do overs and getting it right or getting his way.  I found that very interesting?

According to Psychology Today, “Gratitude is an emotion expressing appreciation for what one has—as opposed to a consumer-oriented emphasis on what one wants or needs. Studies show that we can deliberately cultivate gratitude, and can increase our well-being and happiness by doing so. In addition, grateful thinking—and especially expression of it to others—is associated with increased levels of energy, optimism, and empathy.”

So essentially gratitude can change our outlook and attitude about our circumstance even when our circumstances do not change.  If I wake up in the morning and all I see around me is negative, chances are I may remain negative; I may even begin to believe that the world is a very negative, bad place to live.  On the other hand if I wake up in the morning and see the negative around me, for example, the morning news, but I choose to also see the positive, to be grateful, my worldview can change.  

Gratitude isn’t going to cure cancer, remove our losses, or our sadness but it can change how we view what is going on around us and just like the character in About Time we have a different view.  When was the last time you noticed the kindness of a stranger and really, I mean really took it in.  

I got a phone call from my alma mater a few weeks back.  Initially I didn’t want to take the call because I figured it might be some kind of a financial call.  Something in me told me to take the call anyway.  I love Liberty and they had always been so gracious and this day was no exception.  The call actually was to ask if they could pray for me in any way.  Imagine that!  Now I might have declined but that day I didn’t and I actually shared what was heavy on my heart and so she prayed for me and then she started asking another question and for sure I thought…here it comes the catch, but you know what?  No catch.  

The call was genuine.  It made my day and I noted my thankfulness to her and my school for being so genuine that they were calling folks just to pray, no strings attached.

Gratitude for that call didn’t change the circumstance of what I asked her to pray for, but it certainly changed my outlook for that moment and that day.  My spirits were lifted and it was if the sun had just come out and was shining brightly (fact was the Son had come out for me).  After shedding a few tears, I couldn’t contain my smile and joy that filled my heart.

It is in these small moments of gratitude and appreciation that we can recognize and experience joy, strength, healing and happiness, in spite of any chaos around us.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.  

-Philippians 4:4-8

By: Cindy O’Donnell