Look for the goodness that is already there.
As the holidays approach, it is easy to get caught up in the rush.
There is always something else to buy, cook, clean, finish, wrap, plan or worry about. And sometimes the season that is supposed to feel joyful simply doesn't.
That is where gratitude has become important to me.
Not as a way to pretend everything is wonderful.
Not as a command to stop feeling sad, angry, anxious or disappointed.
But as a practice of noticing that even on a difficult day, something good may still be here.
Sometimes it is big.
Sometimes it is ridiculously small.
A sunny morning. Your hair cooperating. A warm house. A good cup of coffee. The ability to walk up the stairs without pain. Someone you love sitting beside you. A prayer answered. A prayer you are still waiting on.
Gratitude doesn't erase what hurts.
It simply refuses to let what hurts become the only thing you can see.
Look for One Thing
When life feels heavy, I don't think you need a complicated gratitude routine.
Find one thing.
Thank God for it.
Then keep going.
Tomorrow, find another.
Over time, you may begin noticing goodness you used to walk right past.
Thankfulness and Peace
Philippians 4:6-8 brings prayer, thanksgiving, peace and the direction of our thoughts together beautifully. It tells us to bring our requests to God with thanksgiving, and then to turn our minds toward what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely and worthy of praise.
I love that Scripture doesn't say we have nothing to be anxious about.
It tells us what to do with the anxiety.
Bring it to God.
Bring your requests.
Bring your thanksgiving.
And keep looking for what is good.
Consuming Goodness
That is Consuming Goodness in its simplest form.
Pay attention to what is good.
Receive it.
Be grateful for it.
And let some of that goodness travel back out through the way you speak, love and live.
You don't have to be grateful instead of hurting.
You can be grateful while you're hurting.
Sometimes both things are true.
And sometimes one small thank-you is enough for today.
Consuming Goodness.
Good in. Good out.
Love yourself, as yourself. Gal. 5:14®
