What Are You Grateful For?

by Stephanie Black

When I was a kid, there was a sister in our ward who was not a particularly happy person. You know how when you’re sitting next to someone at church and sharing a hymnbook, and you both hold a side? Well, this sister felt that when she shared a hymnbook, she always got the heavy side.

Huh? What could be more random than which side of the hymnbook you’re holding? To me, this story is a perfect illustration of the fact that if you're looking for something to be unhappy about—looking to be offended, looking for something to complain about, looking for ways to prove that the universe has done you wrong—you’ll find something. On the other hand, if you’re looking for things to be grateful for, looking for the tender mercies of the Lord in your life, you’ll find those, in abundance.

Over the past few weeks, my family has been e-mailing a “gratitude list” back and forth, where people list things they are grateful for. A few of the items that have made the list are:

Online bill paying
hot showers
the First Vision
prayer
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Anna singing in the shower
The Book of Mormon
The right to vote
Blogs
Pistachios
shampoo
Refrigerators
BYU football
Chocolate cake donuts
Antibiotics
Emergency C-sections that save babies
Digital photography
Kleenex
A good husband
Bike rides
Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches
Parents who taught us the gospel
Contact lenses
Children’s giggles
Temples
The internet
Warm banana bread
The kindness of others
Central heating
People who serve in the military
Sunshine
Candy cane Hershey’s kisses

Obviously, some of these items are huge in the huge eternal sense and others are very small. Does it really make a difference to our happiness whether or not we’re grateful for things like Candy Cane Hershey’s kisses?

I think it does.

I think there are few things that make more of a powerful, immediate difference to our happiness than having gratitude for even the tiny things in life. Instead of going through life getting the heavy side of the hymnbook, we’ll feel blessed beyond measure when we start counting our blessings and realize the list goes on and on and on.

In Doctrine and Covenants 59:7, we’re commanded to thank the Lord in all things. I think one of the reasons the Lord gave us this commandment is because He knows how happy gratitude makes us and how unhappy ingratitude makes us. And He wants us to be happy.

So today I’m following the example of a dear friend of mine and am inviting all of you to post in the comment trail a few things that you're grateful for, big or small.

I should go throw some laundry in, so let me just say I am grateful for my washer and dryer. How amazingly convenient is it to be able to throw a load of dirty clothes in a machine and have them come out clean? Awesome!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!