I think that one of the things I’m most thankful for on Thanksgiving Day is that, when the Lord was deciding who would need help at this season and who would be in a position to give help, He permitted me to be among the givers.
–Bill Gold in the Washington Post
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The trick to being happy is to stop and think occasionally, during normal times, how good things are going. At this very moment, on this Thanksgiving morning, my teeth don’t hurt, no one is yelling at me, I’m making a living, and my family is fine. I’m just going to take the day off and sit around appreciating how blessed I am, and I hope you can do the same. (Source lost)
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The day’s mail finally brought what the two sisters were waiting for– the annual Christmas toy catalog, full of colored pictures. The first one to page through was the six-year-old. As she turned each page, she would say excitedly, “I want this, and I want this, and I want this…” When she was finished, the four-year-old, who did not yet know what catalogs were all about, turned each page with glee and gratitude, and was often heard to say, “We have this! And we have this! And we have this!” … “I want! We have!” What a difference it would make in our world, and in our personal lives, if the wisdom of that four-year-old could rule the day.
–Gerhard Frost in Kept Moments, 1982 (paraphrased from a poem)
Success is getting what you want. Happiness is being grateful for what you have. –H. Jackson Brown
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There is none so poor as he who knows not the joy of what he has.
–Ben Franklin
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In James Michener’s Centennial an Indian father says to his son, “Every morning we give thanks to God.” The son replies, “What if there is nothing to be thankful for?” The father replies, “Then the fault is in you.” The son then asks, “How can you always see the good in everything?” The father replies, “I suppose it is because I keep looking.”
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If you want to feel rich, just count all the good things you have that money can’t buy.
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A single grateful thought toward heaven is a most complete prayer.
–Gotthold Lessing
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What a wonderful life I have had! I only wish I would have realized it sooner.
–Colette Willy, French author (1873-1954)
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A personality trait that makes other people most agreeable and likable to us is that of being appreciative; and the opposite is also true.
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Be thankful for the little things, because one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
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One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others.
–John Rutledge (1739-1800) American Founding Father
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A hundred times every day I remind myself that my life depends on the labors of others, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the measure I have received and am still receiving.
–Albert Einstein
(I would add: And most of all, what has been received from God, which is everything.)
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It became clear to me that I had not the inward right to take for granted my happy youth, my good health, and my power to work. Out of the depths of my feeling of happiness and gratitude, there grew up within me an understanding of the saying of Jesus that we must not treat our lives as being for ourselves alone. Whoever is not overwhelmed by personal pain must feel himself called to help in diminishing the pain of others.
–Albert Schweitzer
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“You have to cherish the world at the same time you struggle to endure it.”
–Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964), American author. She died at the age of 39 after suffering much of her life with lupus; enduring with faith and without complaining.
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Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) told a graduating class at McGill University that they should not care too much for money, power, or fame, adding, “Someday you will meet a person who cares for none of these things, and then you will know how poor you are.”
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Will Rogers (1879-1935), American humorist, on Thanksgiving Day: “In the days of our founders, they were willing to give thanks for mighty little, for mighty little was all they expected. But now, neither government nor nature can give enough, but that we still think it is too little. Those old folks in the fall of the year, if they could gather a few pumpkins, potatoes, and some corn for the winter, they were in a thanking mood. But if we can’t get a new Buick, a new radio, a tuxedo, and some government relief, why we feel that the whole world is against us.”
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My parents married and moved into a tiny apartment. In time, they were able to buy a tiny house, and then later a bigger house, and finally a large, comfortable home, with room enough for all the visiting children and grandchildren. Then, came old age, and the process went the other way. They had to move into an apartment, followed by a small studio apartment in an assisted living facility, and then after mom died, dad moved into a shared room in a nursing home. When I first visited him in the nursing home, he greeted me cheerfully, showed me his half-room with a sweep of his hand, and said, “Just think—all of this is mine!” I looked around and saw a few pictures, a few snacks, some clothes on a neat pile, and his toiletries. His possession would barely fill a box. But as I pondered his words, I realized this was a snapshot of genuine contentment and gratitude. He had no complaints, and even at the end, there was still in him an amazement at God’s goodness and provision. Dad had always lived by Philippians 4:11: “I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances.” (From The Christian Dad’s Answer Book, 1997, Mike Yorkey)
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Psalm 118:29 — Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love endures forever.
Colossians 3:15 — Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.
I Thessalonians 5:18 — Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
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Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!
–Revelation 7:12
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