“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” – Paul, the Apostle
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” Melody Beattie
At this point in this series of #LAST70DAYSOF2013, all I can say is that I am grateful to God for His immense grace all through these days. I feel we should just take today and share our heart of gratitude, thanksgiving and gratefulness to God for all He has done for every one of us from the beginning of the year till this moment. There is every reason to be grateful at this period of the year. Gratitude is a personality strength—the ability to be keenly aware of the good things that happen to you and never take them for granted. Grateful individuals express their thanks and appreciation to others in a heartfelt way, not just to be polite. If you possess a high level of gratitude, you often feel an emotional sense of wonder, thankfulness and appreciation for life itself.
I am sure all has not been smooth and rosy for you. There may have been dashed dreams, visions and goal. There may have been several mistakes, failures and disappointments, there may also have been some level of rejections and all that. The truth being told, there are people out there who had more of these than you. There are people who did not achieve up to 1% of all you achieved this year. There are people out there wishing they were you and that if they were you, that things would have been better for them this year.
Instead of thinking of the things that did not work for you this year, you may decide as well to think of how good God had been to you and your family, in your marriage and relationship, in your business, career and workplace, in your studies if you are a student and so on. At the same time you are thinking this year was not good for business, several people lost their businesses and millions of dollars and naira because of one wrong step or the other. Someone wrote and said:
“Gratitude means thankfulness, counting your blessings, noticing simple pleasures, and acknowledging everything that you receive. It means learning to live your life as if everything were a miracle, and being aware on a continuous basis of how much you’ve been given. Gratitude shifts your focus from what your life lacks to the abundance that is already present.”
There are several people who died this year, some of them you know are more righteous, more successful and more prospective. But here you are alive, ready this article today. I want you to take out today and count your blessing, one after the other and it will surprise you what God has done for you in 2013. Maintaining the discipline of gratefulness will take you to a greener 2014. So, if I were you, I will put aside all my worries and the things that didn’t work for me in 2013 and concentrate on being grateful for the remaining hours of 2013. “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” Not just for today, make sure that every day in 2014 ends with a grateful heart unto God and the people who bless you daily. In addition, behavioral and psychological research has shown the surprising life improvements that can stem from the practice of gratitude. Giving thanks makes people happier and more resilient, it strengthens relationships, it improves health, and it reduces stress. So you can see why you need to be grateful today.
If you do not know what to do today, just bow your knees and your head and deep down from your heart, say ‘God, I think you for my life and for a wonderful year like this. I also thank you for the year ahead. I am so grateful.’ I have seen this link on gratitude and would love to share it with you. If you have time visit it: Mind Valley Academy.
Prayer: Dear God, we are grateful for all you have done for us in 2013. We truly appreciate and want to say, ‘thank you, Lord!’
As we journey through life 