Happy Thursday everyone! Since we have a hashtag challenge happening this month, I asked a few friends, “What does gratitude mean to you?” Here are a few of their answers:
I think gratitude is the path to happiness, and it applies to everything, especially your friends and your belongings. As far as your possessions, it’s simply being grateful for what you have, instead of always wanting what you don’t have. With friends, gratitude frees you up to love and enjoy them without having to expect anything back, and equips you to get past the disappointments that may come along.
-Whitney Lundquist
Gratitude is a wonderful way to express your thanks to people and the things they’ve done for you. It’s also a way to raise self confidence in the person who is giving to you. If someone gives even the smallest thing to you, and you go out of your way to show your gratitude, that will not only help that person realize that they helped you but might also encourage them to help others. The gratitude given to those who help us show them that the small things really do matter. People don’t usually remember you for the things you give them, they remember most the way you make them feel.
-Kim Sizemore
Gratitude means a lot to me. It is the very spark that ignites joy in the midst of any circumstance and breeds contentment. Gratitude helps to shift the focus off of what may appear to be the worst of situations onto what is good about it; which brings about change in our perspective.
-Syretta Bates
Gratitude means being more aware. It is our culture’s practice to always want more—more success, more money, more popularity, more clothes, more sex, more fitness, more entertainment, more possessions, and the list goes on and on. I’m definitely not immune to the desire of wanting more, but I try to live in a state of contentment and awareness of all my blessings. I’ve tried to make it my practice to daily write out “thank you prayers” to Jesus in my journal. Once I start writing, it’s difficult to stop because there is so much to be grateful for!
-Christine Kimball
To me, gratitude is finding joy in the little things, sending praise to the One who blesses, and being able to dance when no one is watching amidst the craziness of the world. It’s being thankful for the small romances that we are given daily and to find joy in them. I often have to check myself and express gratitude to remember how blessed I truly am. It’s a struggle for me, but it’s always worth it.
-Sara Richardson
I think for me gratitude is taking a step back, taking a deep breath and really taking the time to be thankful for all the blessings in my life without looking out for the next gift or the next best thing.
-Naomi Latta
For me, gratitude is all about perspective. When it seems like nothing is going right in your life, it’s really important to take some time to be thankful for the things that are going well. When you develop that grateful attitude, it changes the way you see the negative stuff and prevents it from taking away your joy. Being grateful, even for small things, can change your entire outlook.
-Laurel Powers
There is only one week until Thanksgiving! When you share what you’re thankful for on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook this week make sure you use #PureDesignThanks. We are going to post our favorites on next week’s blog!
