#5 Gratitude

We're onto the fifth gift of waiting from the book "Seven Spiritual Gifts of Waiting." I especially liked this chapter on gratitude. I think most of the time, I find it pretty easy to be grateful for the many wonderful things in my life. I can always find someone in a worse situation and see that I have it pretty good. But, I do fall into the "woe is me" trap occasionally.

One of the author's ideas in this chapter is to look at what might be a depressing situation and try to "reframe" it. She uses the Biblical beatitudes as example. She also talks about how she has these ordinary items they picked up while traveling put in fancy frames in her house. The frame turns the ordinary into a beautiful piece of art. So, how we can we "reframe" the wait and see the beauty in it?

She also talks about gratitude vs. entitlement. Feelings of entitlement defeat feelings of gratitude. Her last point is that waiting opens our hearts, makes us vulnerable and allows us to see the blessings of small things we might have missed otherwise.

Let's have a little Thanksgiving in August. It's incredibly hot here in the South. I've been dreaming of a crisp, fall day! I'm going to try and spend the day being grateful. I may have to substitute turkey lunch meat for my Thanksgiving meal! Frankly, I've been a little blue this week. My head knows all the reasons why I should be grateful and content. But, in the words of Billy Ray, I've got an Achy Breaky Heart! No matter, though, because I continue to wait expectantly with hope and gratitude even on the hard days. Hope you are waiting well, too!