Gratitude is the sign of noble souls...

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls,I saw the phrase on a little framed needlework picture at a thrift store. It stirred something in me. It convicted me,too. So I bought it. I want a noble soul! But I have to admit, if gratitude is the sign...then I fear my life has been a far cry from one of nobility. I hung that little picture in my bathroom as a reminder of something to strive for. Okay, so I might be a little melodramatic here, but I think it's changing my life. The last few years tried to kick my butt and for the first half, they did just that. I lived under a heap of fear and anxiety and hmmm, what is the opposite of gratitude...oh, how about whiney-ness? That may not be in Webster's dictionary, but it is definitely the right word!

So what's changed? I guess me. Certainly some circumstances have changed for the better, and some for the worse. But how do you ride out the storms of life without capsizing? It's all about power. A speaker once reminded me that we are all very powerful people. How so? Choice. Choice makes me powerful. And I can wield that power one of two ways...for blessing or for cursing. 

Of course my go to guy (that would be God)says it best:
"I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life." Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Choose life. The thing that is changing me is my choices. My life is far from perfect. There are many opportunities for me to choose worry or anxiety right now, but I can honestly say that I am not! I am choosing gratitude. Oh trust me, there are times I want to go have a pity party or blame my circumstances on somebody else, and it's then I'm reminded that I have a choice! I can focus on what I don't have or I can choose to look at what I do have, and I have so much to be grateful for. I realize that a life spent comparing oneself to others, wishing my circumstances away,and whining about what I can't do, get, be or whatever...is a colossal waste of my time. Sadly...I've lived there, for too many years, and I'm not proud to admit it. But happily, I am not there now. 

Back up to the verse from Deuteronomy. I think what we choose matters! It's not that I get to choose to drown my fears, or medicate them. Shop them away or buy myself into oblivion. Eat myself into happiness or whatever...it's choosing life.It's choosing what breathes life into your situation. Jesus claims to be the way, the truth and the life, and I for one can attest that He is! He is the anchor of a happy and grateful heart! When I tie myself to His presence, His purposes, His plans, and His very true words...I can be grateful, even when stuff is flying around me that is out of my control. Even when bad stuff happens. There is always, always, always something to be grateful for. There is a reason He tells us to give thanks in all things...it's certainly not for His benefit. Loving parents don't tell their kids what to do or not to do for their own benefit...it is always for the blessing, protection, direction, or life lesson of the child. The same is true with every single thing the Lord tells us. To choose life, to choose gratitude...only benefits me. It fills my heart with light and life, and with the very Presence of the One who shares His light and life with us...and who doesn't want and need that? Really.