Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
---Melody Beattie
Melody Beattie is an author of self-help books with a focus on codependency...I first discovered her above quote before I found out anything else about her. But sometimes the message has such a universal, obvious application that it doesn't matter who said it...unless, of course, the speaker was a real scoundrel. Yesterday was Thanksgiving and my wife Melissa and our two grown-up children Will and Rebecca enjoyed it together with a fantastic home-prepared meal. What a blessing for us! I believe that it's important to instill within oneself a habit of looking gratefully at the good things that life provides...health, good relationships, prosperity...these are things we seek and should not withhold our thanks when God blesses us with them. I think a lot of us look back with regret at our own pasts, both for our mistakes and missed opportunities as well as with anger at the bad things we perceive that others did to us...but if we temper that negativity with some acknowledgment that there were also good...even wonderful...things going on as well as good people who cared about us, then as Ms. Beattie pointed out, such gratitude does make better sense of our past. From time to time as I go through my daily life with its many demands, frustrations, and worries, it's also important for me to realistically assess my situation...and that involves taking into account the good things currently going on in my life and being thankful for it all. It also can be said that even with defeats and failures, gratitude is in order since from those experiences much can be learned. And regarding the future, knowing that I've enjoyed great blessings in the past as well as the present, I can see a future in which more for which I will be grateful is sure to come...let's all plan on a blessed future!
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