Grateful in Any Circumstance

Sister Hole shared a talk given in the April General Conference this year. If you haven't read it or need to be refreshed, I hope you will feel revived upon finishing. I always feel a bit redundant when I try to capsulize a conference talk for they have already been treated as a jewel for the moment. Here goes with a short version of a wonderful talk which I have attached so that you can listen to one of our wonderful leaders, after you read my summary. Two for the price of one!
We have all experienced grief in some way in our lives. Some instances seem so overwhelming that we think we can't get through it, an end of something like death of a loved one or estrangement of a dear one. Perhaps a loss of hope seems to overcome us or a challenge to our faith. No one gets through life without some adverse event happening to them.
"We can be grateful" says Pres. Uchtdorf., even in every situation.  We might not be able to see the greater picture at the time, but the Lord does and He knows how our situation might make us stronger and how we might help someone else through our experience.
"It might sound contrary to the wisdom of the world to suggest that one who is burdened with sorrow should give thanks to God. But those who set aside the bottle of bitterness and lift instead the goblet of gratitude can find a purifying drink of healing, peace, and understanding." I love the next sentence that helps us to see how we could possibly be grateful when it seems impossible.

"Why does God command us to be grateful?

All of His commandments are given to make blessings available to us. Commandments are opportunities to exercise our agency and to receive blessings. Our loving Heavenly Father knows that choosing to develop a spirit of gratitude will bring us true joy and great happiness." When we raise children, we want them to be happy and grateful for what they have but I doubt we can keep all challenge from their lives. How would they grow and become strong adults who can accept responsibility for their own lives if they did become strong through experience? Doesn't our Father in Heaven want us each to come home, strong, learned and used up in His service?

We talked about what it is like to be grateful for things. We could all list things for which we are grateful but our gratitude shouldn't be held within the bounds of "things." We should be able to develop an attitude of gratefulness in our daily lives. A sister told of a neighbor whose house caught fire and that afterward, the neighbor was grateful for her safety. That is an attitude of gratefulness.

Having the gospel should make us prime candidates for that kind of daily attitude if we constantly acknowledge the Lord's teachings and His love for us.

Being grateful can bring us joy, or if we choose not, then we will limit ourselves. When Nephi was suffering, bound by his brothers in a ship, he thanked God: "I did look unto my God, and I did praise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions." That is a good goal to hold in front of us in times of unpleasant circumstances. There are so many other worthy examples of being grateful in times of trial, that I can't list them. 

"We can choose to be grateful, no matter what.

This type of gratitude transcends whatever is happening around us. It surpasses disappointment, discouragement, and despair. It blooms just as beautifully in the icy landscape of winter as it does in the pleasant warmth of summer."

When you are worrying something to death that you can't or shouldn't control, realized that you are responsible for your journey on earth and not anyone else's. (Grown children, especially- they will tell you.)

As much as we like to make lists or look forward to something ending and moving onward to something better, we are still not made for endings.

"Why is this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless¹³ and who promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny.

The more we learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more we realize that endings here in mortality are not endings at all. They are merely interruptions—temporary pauses that one day will seem small compared to the eternal joy awaiting the faithful."

If you were thinking you aren't worthy or you can't deal with something, doesn't this last quote just make you want to dance?

In honor of the first and many subsequent Thanksgivings, take some time this week (and all year) to make a mental collage of all those things for which you are thankful and allow your attitude of gratefulness to be enlarged beyond what you might be thinking right now.

Happy attitude of gratitude week.

Your bloggess,

Janice