Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Seeking a Full Life

I relish the Thanksgiving holiday, and the entire holiday season for that matter, because it makes people realize what they have been forgetting the other 10 months of the year. Kindness & Gratitude. Why do we forget? They are such simple, yet powerful principles that can lead us to happiness and joy... regardless of our health, wealth and other circumstances.

As I was visiting teaching last night, we were chatting about hope. This morning, I realized that hope, faith and charity are closely tied to those two components. If we can engender those attributes in our life, we will find the ability to be kind and grateful 365 days each year.

I found this quote by Melodie Beattie; it is a beautiful, poignant message for us all:
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.

In an effort to unlock the fullness of life, I thought about the many blessings that come into my life each day. I know all of us could make a list, hundreds of pages long. To make it a bit difficult, and yet more meaningful, I am sharing my top five things for which to be grateful this year:
  1. The love of a caring husband, good family and wonderful friends
  2. The beautiful simplicity of the Gospel
  3. Bountiful blessings of living in a free country
  4. The amazing power of free agency
  5. Many rich opportunities to serve others
What are your Top 5?

4 comments:

wandering nana said...

Beautiful thoughts. Thank you for reminding me.

Rachel Goodwin Williams said...

That was a wonderful quote. I'm not sure what my top five are, but your chocolate cake has got to be at least in the top ten! Thanks again!

TnT Bingham said...

Hey lady! You are on my thankful list...you know that right?! The Beattie quote is really profound. I love you, girl!

I am forwarding the Doghouse to Trev =) ....You do have a gem in that hubby of yours! It makes me so happy when I hear he is taking such good care of you!

Frank and Julie said...

After the last few days gratitude for my family is very high on my list. I loved the quote. It was very timely
Love you so much,
Mom & Dad