Yesterday, our lesson in Young Women's was on gratitude, and I knew that I needed to write on that topic. I'm sure its more for myself than for anything else. The title of the lesson was "Why is it important to be grateful?" I have on numerous occasions throughout the last ten months looked for reasons to be grateful in the circumstances that I am facing. And although some days it is really hard to find them, they are there. President Monson says "When we encounter challenges and problems in our lives, it is often difficult for us to focus on our blessings. However, if we reach deep enough and look hard enough, we will be able to feel and recognize just how much we have been given."
It is very easy to look for reason to be grateful when things are going right for us in our lives, but what about the times when things are going terribly wrong? I think that President Uchtdorf explained it well in his article Grateful in Any Circumstances where he says "Could I suggest that we see gratitude as a disposition, a way of life that stands independent of our current situation? In other words, I’m suggesting that instead of being thankful for things, we focus on being thankful in our circumstances—whatever they may be. As I have said before, the circumstances we are in now, mold us into the person that we are supposed to be. I believe that there is beauty even in the ugliest of circumstances. We just need to look for it.
Last night I was in one of those undesirable moments where it was just me and my thoughts. Of course in those moments my mind takes me back to that dreadful email and the content it contained. As often as I try to push the images, and details that I received out, sometimes my mind freezes and I can't do much but sit there staring into oblivion sifting through those thoughts. I was caught up in the details of the things that went on with Brandon and my so called "friends". The longer I was lingering on those particular thoughts the more hurt and sorrow I was drawing to myself. I was trying to understand why he chose my "friends", and why my "friends" would do what they did to me? During those moments I had the thought to look for the gratitude in that particular scenario. Ha! Is there really anything to be grateful for there? I kept looking, and searching but found nothing......Until I sat down and started typing this post. What I found was in the The Divine Gift of Gratitude talk by President Thomas S.Monson. He said "This is a wonderful time to be on earth. While there is much that is wrong in the world today, there are many things that are right and good. There are marriages that make it, parents who love their children and sacrifice for them, friends who care about us and help us, teachers who teach. Our lives are blessed in countless ways." Reading that testified to me that despite the fact that I haven't had great friends in the past, I certainly do now. They have been by my side through the thick and thin of this all. There was something to be grateful for. And in that same paragraph it said "there are marriages that make it" two beautiful things to be grateful for in one paragraph! I felt like I hit the jack pot with that paragraph alone.
I know that when I look for things to be grateful for it stops me from focusing on all of the negative that surrounds me. There can be so much to feel gloom and doom over. I know that I can't allow myself to sink into that gloom and doom. It will over take me, and I will be no good as a mother, a wife, a friend, a sister, or a daughter. "We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude". Thomas S. Monson
Being grateful in our circumstances is an act of faith in God. It requires that we trust God and hope for things we may not see but which are true. By being grateful, we follow the example of our beloved Savior, who said, “Not my will, but thine, be done. True gratitude is an expression of hope and testimony. It comes from acknowledging that we do not always understand the trials of life but trusting that one day we will. President Uchtdorf
I have so many things to be grateful for, and in my dark moments the ones that I reflect on the most are my 4 beautiful healthy children, and the life I have been given. I know that when we "set aside the bottle of bitterness and lift instead the goblet of gratitude can find a purifying drink of healing, peace, and understanding."President Uchtdorf
If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. President Thomas S Monson
I fight everyday to maintain an Attitude of Gratitude
Lots of love,
Cherae
I will forever be grateful for you Cherae. You are a gift. Love ya Becky
ReplyDeleteCherae, I found your blog through a post by Sons of Helaman on Facebook. You and your Sweetheart are INSPIRING, and I feel honored and grateful to find this. I haven't read through much of your blog or personal story, but this is such an encourgaging resource. I feel blessed and thank you for being willing to share in hopes of others benefitting. God bless you both, and again, thank you!
ReplyDeleteHello, I was given this blog to look at by my sister who I guess is friends with your sister. She said our story is very similar and spending half the day on your blog I can tell it is. I'm the young woman's president in my ward and I to was very thankful for that lesson. I recently just taught how the atonement can help me through my trials. I also gave a talk based on president monson's talk in sacrament 2 days before I found out about this horrible plague that has effected my marriage all along and I never knew it. I needed to hear that there are marriages that make it. I also searched and searched for someone with a story like mine so I didn't feel like such a fool for staying. I really need to find hope. I've read your husband's posts to and they sound a lot like the things my husband says. It gives me how that they can turn into the worthy priesthood holders we deserved all along and they deserved themselves. My husband was 5 when his addiction began and he is excited to read this with me and find hope through yours and your husband's post. Thank you for sharing this.
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ReplyDeleteI am grateful for this post today, as my day has been that of anxiety and sadness. I have hoped that we would also be that marriage that made it, but that is not the case. Instead I am going to go through my third divorce and my first temple divorce. It is so difficult to find gratitude in this circumstance but there are things and people and the Lord that I am greatly grateful for. I know the road remains rocky that lies ahead but I also know that my integrity and dignity will remain intact. I will no longer have my marriage but I will still be the recipient of blessings promised to me as I keep my covenants. I will blossom from a victim and rise out of the dark hole of Betrayal Trauma as a SURVIVOR!! I have Faith in the Lord and his timing and mission for me, but is women like you and the many others I have met o we the past two years that strength me...you are one of my Super Heroes!!
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