Gratitude

Through experiences I have had, I have found that having gratitude outwardly is so important. But even more importantly to me I feel like a grateful heart changes a person. It's changed me, I want nothing more than to be a grateful person day in day out. A grateful person is easy to be around because they are kind and gentle, they don't put you down or make you feel inferior, rather they build you up and allow you to be your best self.  A grateful person can go without a lot, I have found that I can go with very little and still be very happy and thankful for what I do have. A grateful person is someone others want to be around because being grateful in-turn allows a person to be humble, happy, patient, not easily provoked and respectful. 

I have been humbled and also humbled myself through my addiction to get to the place I am. I know that life is hard and sometimes all that makes sense in the world is to turn away from gratitude especially when things don't seem fair. I know without a doubt that everything happens for a reason, and as cliche as it sounds everything happens to teach us a lesson. Cliche or not we do learn from hard things, but it's up to us on whether we decide to have it be a lesson to strengthen us and make us better people or a lesson on how to resent others, build walls around us, develop a stony heart or even worse have ignorance and be thankless. 

"Hard times are often blessings in disguise. Let go and let life strengthen you. No matter how much it hurts, hold your head up and keep going. This is an important lesson to remember when you’re having a rough day, a bad month, or a crappy year. Truth be told, sometimes the hardest lessons to learn are the ones your spirit needs most. Your past was never a mistake if you learned from it. So take all the crazy experiences and lessons and place them in a box labeled “Thank You.”   — Manisha Shrestha  Bundela

 I think gratitude is one thing we get to give back to our Heavenly Father and Savior who have done EVERYTHING for us.  I have such a strong testimony of the meaning of a broken heart being what we strive for. My gratitude for my Saviors Atoning sacrifice for me is amazing, and it is so deep that I get a very indescribable feeling of intense gratitude when I truly ponder Him suffering for every one of my sins and feeling every depth of despair I have felt.  With that in the forefront of our minds how can we not have a box that says "Thank You" and place every hardship in it?  It is overwhelming to think of how much more grateful I can and should be yet then I remember how grateful I am for His grace allowing me to continue to be imperfect and allowing me to continue striving to be the best possible version of me. 

Today I am grateful to be an addict and that I have gone through the depths of my own hell to be able to know the true joy of feeling my Saviors love for me.  I also know that I can go on in life with very little but there are a few people I wouldn't know what to do without, and I am so grateful to call them mine, my sweet husband and my amazing babe Meiken! ❤️️