The month of November signals the return of many things. Pumpkin flavored beverages and cookies are seen commonly in this month. Along with the return of very early Christmas music and decorations. Even though all of these things are good reasons to remember November I don't want to spend too much time on any of those things. Instead I want to talk about Thanksgiving Day. Especially the attitude that holiday should foster in all of us. The attitude of gratitude.
Being grateful is something that all of us must do if we wish to truly be happy in this life and receive all of the blessings of the Gospel. During my teenage years I had a bishop who exemplified someone who was grateful and was happy with his life. My bishop was always thankful for everything he had. Yet he didn't have tons of things, he didn't live in a big house and he often made the comment that he had just enough to meet his needs. Yet it seemed like he had everything in the world because he was grateful for the things he had. My bishop was always willing to share what he had with others whether it be his time or the temporal things he had. He did all of this willingly because he knew the things he did have and he knew that they were from God.
That bishop I had in my teenage years is a man that I really look up to and I will always remember him fondly. The gratefulness that he shared with me and others was infectious. Along with that gratitude came a happiness that he shared with many people. Grateful people can truly help brighten the people around them. But the opposite effect can happen when people are ungrateful for the things that they have. I have met many people who seem to have everything nice cars, a wonderful place to live, lots of money and many other worldly possessions. Yet most of them are not satisfied with what they want. They always want what is new and what is better. This ungratefulness brings complaining and a general dissatisfaction with life. This attitude is sadly very easy to spread.
Even if we do not have all the worldly possessions that we want or that we think we need we can still be grateful for what we have. And even if that list is short there are even greater blessings that each one of us receives that we should be grateful to have. We can be thankful for our testimonies, eternal families, and most importantly God's Son Jesus Christ. When we remember these blessings that are always available to us then we can find happiness and see that we have more in those blessings than anything else this world has to offer. We have the love of a Heavenly Father who is willing to give us eternal happiness.
In this month we have a lot to be thankful for. We must let the spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude be something that we carry through this month and the rest of our lives. We must avoid focusing on the things of the world and remember the things of God. In this month also lies Black Friday a day that encourages us to go deeper into debt, to seek after things that are not important, and to be ungrateful. This day is the counterbalance to being thankful.Let us try to focus on what we have and the blessings that our Heavenly Father has promised us instead of those silly unimportant things. Because as we are thankful our love for our Savior will grow and so will our happiness. For in the end we can all be thankful for a loving God.
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