There’s a little shop in Port Aransas, Texas that lifts my spirits every time I go past it. Its eye-catching exterior is captivating and alluring and it’s hard to drive past without stopping to look at what’s inside. Unsurprisingly, the interior is decorated every bit as cute as the outside, packed jam full of anything and everything “gratitude.” I thought it was wonderful that there are so many charming accessories and trinkets to remind people to think that way. Indeed, living in gratitude is a state of mind.
Being grateful is simple, but it’s not always easy. I can see where reminders would come in handy. It’s easy to be grateful for the obvious (food, clothing, shelter, family, friends, a reliable vehicle, getting that job, a beautiful day, etc), but not so much when challenges arise. Getting caught in traffic. Flat tires. Not getting my way. Accidents. Health issues. Pain. Death. That’s when I have to really dig deep and make myself do what I don’t want to do, which isn’t easy. At all. But I try to remember to THINK “Thank you,” because that’s what I’ve learned to do.
Being grateful during challenges doesn’t change the circumstance whatsoever, but it does change my reaction to it somehow. For one thing, it puts the emphasis on something other than ‘me,’ so I’m less apt to feel like a victim. Gratitude allows a few precious seconds for grace to seep through, and its calming effect is obvious, even to me. Since the only thing I can control is myself and my reactions to what is essentially LIFE, I try to make gratitude my go-to response to most things these days, so that at the very least, I react sanely. “Try” being the operative word. A funky little shop such as Gratitude and all the reminder merchandise it offers sure would make the effort more fun. I believe I just wrote myself into going back there today!
For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. ~ 2 Corinthians 4:15-16
