Live in Thanksgiving Daily

Elder Wirthlin recently passed away. This morning, as I was getting ready, they broadcasted a talk he gave at a devotional entitled this.

He relates how you can tell the difference between genuinely happy people in life, and those that are not. He goes on to explain that those people that are happy are living in thanksgiving daily... in other words, they are grateful for all they have and there for want and complain less. He states that complaining makes your own life as well as those around you miserable. He reminds us not to judge others until we have walked in their shoes a while. He also points out that the attitude of thanksgiving is in humility. He refers to this virtue as the virtue of gratitude.

I was very drawn to this talk for two reasons. 1. Because Elder Wirthlin passed so close to Thanksgiving. 2. Because in the spirit of the holiday, I've been pondering a lot about gratitude... if you notice my Thanksgiving post was even entitled "Gratitude".

He states, "It is a quality I have found in every happy person I know. It is a quality that instantly makes a person more likable and more at peace. Where there is an abundance of this virtue, there is happiness. Where there is an absence of this virtue, there is often sadness, resentment, and futility... Gratitude is a mark of a noble soul and a refined character. We like to be around those who are grateful. They tend to brighten all around them. They make others feel better about themselves. They tend to be more humble, more joyful, more likable."

He refers to Gratitude as the "parent" virtue of many others. Obviously, the attitude of gratitude fosters many other wonderful qualities in a person so this makes sense. I highlighted all of the qualities he listed in that short paragraph and certainly this is not all.

President Joseph F. Smith proclaimed: “The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life. Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man!”

President Gordon B. Hinckley has said: “Absence of gratitude is the mark of the narrow, uneducated mind. It bespeaks a lack of knowledge and the ignorance of self-sufficiency. It expresses itself in ugly egotism and frequently in wanton mischief. …
“Where there is appreciation, there is courtesy, there is concern for the rights and property of others. Without it there is arrogance and evil”

"Gratitude turns a meal into a feast and drudgery into delight. It softens our grief and heightens our pleasure. It turns the simple and common into the memorable and transcendent. It forges bonds of love and fosters loyalty and admiration." --Pres. Wirthlin

So how do we do it? He breaks it down into 3 steps:
1. Open our Eyes (Look around and be grateful for all the beauties of the world)
2. Open our Hearts (Repent, Pray, and fill your heart with love, faith and thanksgiving)
3. Open our Arms (Unselfishly reach out to others in need)

Our beloved President Gordon B. Hinckley has said: “My plea is that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life, we ‘accentuate the positive.’ I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment and endorse virtue and effort” (Standing for Something [2000], 101).

Everyone can live in thanksgiving daily no matter who they are.

He started this talk off with the story of a married couple. The man always complained that his wife didn't do enough or didn't do things right. So one day she suggests that they switch chores. She went out on the farm and he tried to clean, cook, milk the cows etc. He ends up burning the house down making dinner. Needless to say, he never complained again and learned to appreciate all that his wife did every day.

With all the stress of school, the baby, and both of us working... we generally don't have it all together. Our house is a mess, our laundry stacks up, sometimes the dishes don't get done right away, and we still struggle to pay our bills. It's really easy to to resent each other and complain about how hard things are right now and all that needs to be done. It's even easier to blame the other person for all the problems. But the truth is, its no one's fault. It's just life. And we're both trying our hardest to do our best in this chapter of our lives. My husband works 6 days a week on average, and goes to school full time. He still manages to study, rake the leaves, take out the trash, help with dishes and laundry, and help with the baby... and love me.

I am going to try really hard to be better at complaining less and being grateful for more. And I've noticed that as I do that I am truly a happier person and happier to be living the life I have. Thank you for all you do babe! I love you.