Gospel Message Day 280

Gratitude, Part 4

So, I was going to write about some personal experiences. But I should have known Institute would put other things in my head that want to be shared as well. We read Elder Andersen's recent Conference talk. There was so much hope and beauty in it, but one huge thing stood out to me, probably because I've been blogging about it the last few days! And then Sister A. had us write down a principle, how the principle has affected our lives in the past, and how we would apply it in future.

Since I already took the time to write that down, I thought I'd just copy what I wrote. It goes fairly well with the gratitude topic.
*Principle: Look around to see the hand of God in your life and you will have no need to fear.

*Experience in past: I often find myself wondering what I am doing in certain places and situations in my life. I doubt if I'm in the right place, doing the right thing, and in those doubts I feel loneliness creep in. At the most difficult time in my life for this, I knew I needed to fix something. Though I already loved God and had seen His blessings in my life, I needed to develop a habit and mindset to see His blessings in everything. (A talk by President Eyring helped spur this on.)

So, I started to look around and see where His hand was. It started to become natural over time. I have especially relied on this when life is a little tougher to get through, but overall the last ~4 years have been the most joyful and fulfilling that I can remember. They feel like they're more blessed, too, but I think that's because the Lord has opened my eyes to see those blessings more.

*Future application: I want to be like Elder Eyring and daily record in a book (not a blog--no offense, blog) how I've seen the hand of the Lord in my life.

As I thought on more particular experiences in trying to learn this habit, I came to realize something. Readers of this blog as well as my personal journal blog saw me frequently talk about finding the Pollyanna Positive Points in what life brought me. On occasion I still do it here when I know I need to adjust my attitude and find what there is to be glad or happy about. All these years, as I've been looking for the Pollyanna Positive Points in what comes at me, what I've really been doing is trying to find God's hand in my life. Because there is always something positive to be found in life's situations and experiences, both the good and the not-so-good. It's just more difficult to find them in the not-so-good times. Yet I believe the positive points are the blessings the Lord is sending me among the trying times. And I just need to see them around me and express my gratitude for them.