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PROGRAM D-8122
Becoming a genius at gratitude—that’s my challenge for us. And I definitely mean “us” because this is an area in my own life that needs improvement. In the last couple of years, I’ve been consciously trying to cultivate a genius for gratitude because I want to be thankful for all my many, many blessings. I also want to grow in gratitude because being thankful is a major stress buster! I’m not kidding. One of the best things you can do to reduce your stress, lower your blood pressure, and lengthen your life is to practice thankfulness.
Notice I said, “practice thankfulness.” It’s really easy to get caught up in complaining because that’s what we hear around us quite often. Don’t you hear a good bit of griping and complaining where you work? You might have caught that disease without realizing it, so you need to practice thankfulness.
Here are some suggestions to help you do that:
- Put a sign on your desk, refrigerator, or mirror that says, “Be a genius at gratitude today,” or “In everything be thankful.” I think we need simple reminders. They sure won’t hurt.
- Put on thankfulness each morning before you leave home. Colossians 3 gives us a list of garments that we should put on each day as God’s chosen people. At the end of this list we read, “And be thankful.” While you’re buttoning your shirt or putting on your shoes, make it a daily ritual to say, “I’m also putting on thankfulness to wear all day today.”
If you will start to do that each morning, you’ll find that throughout the day, when you might start to complain or go into negative-mode, the Holy Spirit will bring that prayer back to your mind, and his quiet voice will whisper in your ear, “Be thankful.” You’ll be amazed at how much more sensitive you will become to your tendency to focus on the negative instead of being thankful for the positive. Before you know it, you’re going to develop a genius for gratitude!