A Thankful Grateful Life

THANK’FUL – Grateful; impressed with a sense of kindness received, and ready to acknowledge it.

GRAT’ITUDE – an emotion of the heart, excited by a favor or benefit received; a sentiment of kindness or good will towards a benefactor; thankfulness. Gratitude is an agreeable emotion, consisting in or accompanied with good will to a benefactor, and a disposition to make a suitable return of benefits or services, or when no return can be made, with a desire to see the benefactor prosperous and happy. Gratitude is a virtue of the highest excellence, as it implies a feeling and generous heart, and a proper sense of duty.

I love that these definitions for the words “thankful” and “gratitude”, pulled from my ginormous 1828 Noah Webster Dictionary, are so intertwined. Sometimes we think of the two as separate feelings. But to be thankful is to be grateful and to be grateful is to be thankful. Both words provide a sense of receiving something wonderful and wanting to acknowledge that feeling to the person who gave it.

When I look at these old world definitions, I get a sense that there must be some sort of action involved. As children, we learn to say “thank you” when someone gives us something or does something nice for us. As we grow older, I wonder if the words “thank you” become too automatic at times – like when someone holds the door open or hands you your happy meal. I think the acknowledging part is there, but am I really impressed by the kindness of the door holding stranger or teen working the fast food counter?

When you connect being thankful with having gratitude, the words somehow feel deeper, weightier, more meaningful and important to convey. There is action connected to both words. I should feel so impressed and excited (Mr Webster’s words, not mine) that I simply can’t wait to reciprocate!

But there are times that I simply can’t repay someone’s kindness to me. I can’t chase down the stranger that shows me kindness without potentially being labeled a stocker! When a friend takes time from their busy schedule to just listen while I bellyache about some injustice or unfair treatment by someone else, other than returning the favor by listening to them, there really isn’t a way to repay that. What if they never complain?

When I look at my life and all that God has blessed me with, there is absolutely no way to completely thank him or show my gratitude. There are, however two things that I can do and Mr Webster is spot on in his definition when he says I should have

… a desire to see the benefactor prosperous and happy. 

Don’t you think that, like a loving parent or best friend, when God gives to us, we can show our thanks and gratitude by doing everything we can to make him happy? When I do what I know he wants me to do, rather than what I want, I believe I’m making him smile. One of my favorite parts of Christmas is watching my kids and grand babies enjoy the gifts we’ve given. It makes me much happier than anything they could give in return! I imagine God feels that same way.

The second thing that I can do to show my gratitude is to live a thankful, grateful life. To live every day in awe of everything I see, grateful for the people God puts in my path to love on and be kind to. To be thankful for each experience – good, bad and otherwise – and look for ways to share the good that has been given to me by a loving Creator. Living every day looking for ways to share my gratitude becomes a calling, a sense of duty. Or as Mr Webster says:

Gratitude is a virtue of the highest excellence, as it implies a feeling and generous heart, and a proper sense of duty.

So I decided to make a list of the top 10 things I’m thankful and grateful for. It’s a simple exercise that took all of 5 minutes. The key is not think too hard, and jot down the first things that come to mind. Granted, my list could go on and on and this isn’t everything, but it’s a start. And it’s a way for me to remind myself, this Thanksgiving season, of the many blessings that God has showered on me. I plan on spending the rest of my life being thankful and grateful so that when I do get to heaven, I’ll be able to see God’s smile firsthand and hear him tell me I did good with all that was given to me!

List of 10 things I’m thankful / grateful for:

• The friendship of my grown children
• My grandbabies’ love – involvement in their lives
• Blue sky with clouds
• Friends who open my horizons because they are different from me
• Butterflies and the ability to sit still and watch them float through my garden
• A home and a bed and a husband who lets me be me
• Enough food to share
• A God who walks beside me in large and small moments
• A job that allows me to touch people’s lives
• Music – the ability to hear it, feel it, sing it

Your turn. What’s on your top 10 list of things you’re thankful / grateful for?