LDSGCT: "Grateful In Any Circumstance"

Dieter F. Uchtdorf: "Grateful In Any Circumstances"

This was about how important it is no matter what is happening in life that we be have gratitude in our hearts.

When I was younger I used to go through my head and list in alphabetical order one thing I was grateful for before falling asleep. Every night there were 26 things I was grateful for. I have left off that habit and have found it more and more difficult to be grateful in every circumstance while I am in it.

That is the hardest thing for me. How do you feel gratitude when you're being evicted or your rent payment gets returned to you? How do you feel gratitude when your world is spinning out of control? It is difficult for me to remember to be grateful for the little things when the big things are absent. Yet, that is exactly what President Uchtdorf talks about: the need to be grateful for every little thing we have been given.

It is also about attitude. Instead of expressing anger, regret, or bitterness over our circumstance we can can choose to rejoice everyday that the sky is blue, the grass is green, we have air to breathe, etc. Instead of dwelling on the negative things we need to look for the positive. Gratitude is a choice we must make.

"We sometimes think that being grateful is what we do after our problems are solved, but how terribly shortsighted that is. How much of life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God that there is rain? Being grateful in times of distress does not mean that we are pleased with our circumstances. It does mean that through the eyes of faith we look beyond our present-day challenges."

This Easter Sunday I am resolved to develop a more grateful heart, mind, and spirit. We are commanded to give thanks in all things and I have done too much complaining and venting of late to seem grateful for any circumstance I have experienced. It is time to remember that "Gratitude is a catalyst to all Christ-like virtues!" I can't become like Christ or allow others to see his light in me if I have an ungrateful attitude. How can we appreciate the destinations we arrive at if we don't appreciate the road we traveled to get there?

I've been thinking of the Intercessory Prayer and how Christ asked for the cup to pass from Him. Yet he was willing to do what the Father required of him. This led to the Road to Golgotha. I express gratitude to someone who was willing to walk that road which I'm sure as excruciating. That road led to great suffering and death all so that his sacrifice could be sealed with his blood. That road led to the Resurrection. How can I appreciate that without being grateful for the arduous walk and suffering that led to it?