I am on the RS meeting committee and as we were preparing for our November activity (a dinner, short program, and making gratitude journals), someone shared this quote.
A lot of things in my life do not play out how I hoped they would. Sometimes that's a good thing, but sometimes it's a discouraging thing.
For instance, Eric and I were just walking down a path with his job and we really wanted this thing to happen. It was a dream of ours for it to happen. We saw so many benefits and blessings and opportunities that could be realized. And it was so close to working out. Really close. But then a week ago we found out it would not happen. It was so devastating.
I took a day to be sad about it, and then we started thinking about the good life we have here right now without that big change in our lives. We have so much to be thankful for.
One of the lessons I have to learn over and over again is to be content with my life. I always seem to be looking for the next big thing to come along and bring me some kind of adventure and joy. But I think true happiness is something you find along the way in your daily days and in your small moments. Even when things are crazy, messy, and hard, by focusing on what I am grateful for my life feels more complete.
I am thankful for safe schools and school buses. I am thankful we can save money. I am thankful for clean, warm clothes. I am thankful for working cars. I am thankful for a beautiful world--trees, the sky, leaves, water. I am thankful for good friends. I am thankful for a supportive, kind ward at church. I am thankful for phones. I am thankful for a house with enough room for all of us to live quite comfortably. I am thankful for costco and grocery stores filled with so much food (and a full refrigerator and cupboards at home).
I am grateful for whiny children, toys and art projects strewn around the house, kids that have to be tucked into bed 5 times at bedtime, closet doors that seem to always be left open, crumbs covering my kitchen floor, and coats and shoes covering my entry way. Because, as hard as those things may be sometimes, these things all mean that I am blessed with a healthy family--four energetic children and one pretty great husband.
Post a Comment