The Gratitude Game

The other day I played a game with my kids because they were bored and cranky and complaining about petty things. I could see that their focus was really in the negative, and needed to be turned around. So we played a gratitude game. What usually happens when I ask them to name things they are thankful for is they say things like "the world" or "our home", and they say it with a huff in their voice that shows they believe this activity to be useless and tiresome. So I changed it a bit. We had to say what we were thankful for, and how and why we were thankful for it, and do it in a way that it sounded fun and even poetic. I started out by saying I was thankful for the trees that shimmer like silver in the sunlight when the wind blows on them. I was also thankful for chubby baby fingers that reach out to touch my face so I can kiss them. By the end of the game we were all giggling and the spirit of our home had changed.

Gratitude is so powerful. I have seen it work wonders in my life. One time I was perplexed by all of my weaknesses, and considered making a list of all of my weaknesses and then seeking to work through each one until they were gone. I was determined to change, but the spirit guided me in seeing that if I did this exercise it would only put me further into despair. I felt impressed to instead focus on my blessings, my gifts and my talents and seek to improve and use those to bless others. I then changed my thoughts and felt a literal weight lift off my shoulders and a pain go out of my heart. I felt like I was walking on air. I could no longer see my weaknesses, but I saw joy and contentment.

I have been doing a study of the Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and spending each morning reading all of his General Conference addresses. I love him. He is a man that understands gratitude and positive thinking. He is definitely a prophet for our time. Just listen to his words, confirming my own experience:

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.

We have all experienced times when our focus is on what we lack rather than on our blessings. Said the Greek philosopher Epictetus, “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

The other day I had to exercise a little gratitude myself. Again I was caught up in perceived weaknesses, and sorrowing because all these other people around me seemed to be 'with it' and all put together. They were using their talents in inspired ways and doing beautiful things that I desired to do, but I can't seem to get over some obstacles of disorderliness in order to do them. I was really in despair again and as I was trying to get the baby to nap, I was praying and really trying to change my mind. I knew something wasn't right about my perception and it needed fixing, but I couldn't see how. Then I was prompted to remember something I had heard in that Celestial Education seminar. She said that in a Celestial Education we would read biographies about great people not so we could see what wonderful people they were and desire to be like THEM, but rather to see what great blessings God had given them and then believe that it was possible for us to receive blessings as well. That really impacted me, and I was able to change my thoughts.

It is like the PollyAnna game. Whenever PollyAnna comes to a situation where she is uncomfortable or sad, she tries to find the positive in it and say why she is glad. I am glad that I have people to look up to and inspire me that God can bless me too.

Picture note: These are some wool felted toys I made for the kids a few years ago. We got them out again and I put them on our Hearth to play with. I am thankful for little wooly toys that are so colorful and bright and bring to life the fun and imagination of a child.