Gratitude Quotient
This journey to joy is going to take some hard work, but nothing worth having is ever easy. Think about that for a moment. The things that have brought you the most joy in your life—did they come easily or did you have to work for them? My greatest sources of joy include my relationship with my husband, Mitch, which still takes a ton of effort, my sons (Nate, Sam, and Gabe) who also require a lot of relational energy, and my mother-in-law (yup, a TON of energy but so worth it).
Let me introduce to you an idea called the gratitude quotient. It has been described in many ways but for simplicity’s sake, let’s stick with learning to recognize and express appreciation (gratitude) for the gifts that we receive from God. Your emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual well-being, as well as the health and stability of your relationships with others will be determined by your gratitude quotient. Cultivating a grateful heart is a safeguard against becoming a bitter, angry, resentful, or “fill-in-the -blank” person. A grateful child of God can’t help but be a joyful, peaceful, radiant person—even when life doesn’t go as you planned.
Let me challenge you with a thought. If discouragement, depression, fear, or anxiety are among your frequent companions that you tend to attribute to the difficult or painful circumstances of your life, you may have a gratitude problem. I want to suggest that as challenging as your and my situation or season of life may be, your frame of mind likely has less to do with your situation and more to do with your need to develop a thankful heart.
I am convinced that we must cultivate the grace and spiritual discipline of gratitude if we are to avoid losing hope in these trying times. An important key to not becoming overwhelmed by what is going on around us (wars, rising inflation, political unrest, gender confusion, etc) is looking for evidence of God’s hand at work in the midst of the chaos. A simple and effective way to do this is by keeping a gratitude journal. Let me explain.
A gratitude journal looks more like a bulleted list for me, but it is simply a place where I have chosen to write down three things/ways that I have seen God show up each day. There are days where I can go on and on, and there are other days where I have to really fight to come up with three things. Here is an example of an entry from my journal:
The Cleveland Clinic had an opening for Mitch that is only a week away! Praise God!
Joyful Journeys is close to hitting the year-end goal for fundraising. God is so faithful.
Dean reached out with encouragement and offered to set up another prayer and fasting day for our family. I feel seen, heard, and loved by our spiritual family.
The steadfast love of the Lord never fails… His mercies are new every morning. I just need to choose to see them.
This simple list has buoyed my spirits on those days that have felt dark and lonely and given me the strength to keep pressing on. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. A notepad. A piece of paper. A document on your computer or smartphone. Whatever works for you. Just choose a time of day and do it consistently.
Giving thanks to God is not a new concept. Just look at the book of Psalms where we have records of people praising God in hardship time and time again. There is a reason for this call to be thankful even in hardship: it is transformational. A grateful spirit rooted in the soil of God’s goodness and grace will radically impact how you view and respond to everything in your life. So, again, I invite you to join me on this journey of joy that will take you closer to the heart of God. What do you say? Are you in?
Joyfully & expectantly,
Heather