Del Rosario: The Gift of Gratitude

ONE topic that I never grow tired of writing about is Gratitude. I believe that one of the secrets (for lack of a better term, as it is after all, not a secret anymore) to living a happier life is the gift of gratitude. It is also a gift that we most often overlook and underestimate.

Just imagine receiving a beautifully wrapped gift, opening it and finding a most desired object.

(A new laptop, maybe?) How will it make you feel? Wouldn’t you want to just jump with joy? Unfortunately, we sometimes end with just jumping with joy and enjoying this gift by ourselves.

What I have learned is this. We double our happiness when we recognize the true value and the source of our gifts, and give due thanks for them.

We multiply our happiness if we share our gifts. This is what the gift of gratitude does. It is a gift that never runs out, but keeps on giving.

The more we are grateful, the more there are reasons to be thankful for, the happier we become, and the cycle continues.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

In everything, give thanks? I like to point out that He doesn’t just say, “Be grateful.” His command is to give thanks!

On days when we just feel so down and sad, for whatever reason, (illness, relationship, financial, or any other problems in life,) it is difficult to feel grateful.

Focusing on the good and crediting the source of everything that is good will help us overcome sadness, and start to become grateful. I believe that if we follow God’s words, train our hearts to be grateful, and give thanks for everything, then we will certainly live a happier life.

How do we train or develop a grateful heart? I can think of two practical tips, which I personally have applied, still applying, and find very effective. The first is to count our blessings. The second, I will elaborate below.

I have been writing on journals/diaries for many, many years. I address my journals to Jesus. It is like writing love letters to Him. It is one of the ways I pray or talk to God.

To me, prayer is vital to life, and one of the other secrets to living a happier life, but that is another topic for another article. Journal writing per se, has many benefits, like knowing oneself more, amongst other things. But I discovered not so long ago, that simply writing on journals wouldn’t necessarily translate to a happy life.

As I read through my much older journals, I noticed that some of the pages were filled with my complaints, hurts and lamentations to God.

Unless I started or ended with a thanksgiving, I realized that some of my journal entries showed a seemingly unhappy life. Not that it meant I was an unhappy person. But, maybe, those days could have been happier. How, you might ask?

The answer is something that I have read many times in the past, but have only consciously and intentionally practiced very recently.

Thanks to Ms. Sha Nacino, a prolific writer, speaker, mentor, my book writing coach and friend. She embraces and practices the idea of writing not just journals, but gratitude journals.

She wrote the “Mission Happiness Journal,” which I have been religiously using for the past 24 days.

What I especially like about this journal is that it has helped put structure and more meaning to my journal writing.

While a spontaneously written love letter (journal page) can be beautiful and helpful as an outlet, it can also be full of ramblings about “I, me and myself.”

In Sha’s Mission Happiness journal, she focuses on five daily G’s to help make one truly happy. God. Goals. Gift. Gratitude. Growth. This article is centering on the 4th G – Gratitude.

Sha’s guide questions and directions on each of these five categories help me to be more focused on what matters most, and be proactive in my life. It has also helped put better order and direction to it. Indeed, I can honestly say, it has helped me live a happier life. (Thank you Sha! You are heaven sent.)

If you are interested in knowing more about this journal or any of the ten other books she has written, please email Sha at sha@seminarphilippines.com.

My Dearest fellow “Thanks” givers,

Today, I woke up to a very gloomy morning. The fog was thick outside. The rains were pouring intermittently. I felt like staying longer under the warmth of my blanket.

Nature and duty called, thus I prepared for the day. I sat to write on my journal; and as I reached the part where I write two things I am grateful for, my heart began to lift.

The fog was still heavy outside, the rains were still pouring, but the gloom was gone. The fog in my brain vanished, as I counted my blessings and wrote how grateful I was for the restful sleep I had and the healthy breakfast in front of me. Praise God!

My dear friends, as we journey in this life, we will receive countless gifts from both man and God, the latter of which are sometimes wrapped in disguise. Confident in God’s generous love for us, may we open these gifts with enthusiasm!

And when we do, may we recognize their true value, be grateful, and give thanks, appreciation and honor to their source.

How does a truly grateful person give thanks and appreciation to any direct or indirect giver of good gifts? By doing something that pleases the giver. I believe that a sincerely written or voiced “thank you,” will surely please any gift giver. It would please me. But, what will please and honor God, the greatest gift giver of all?

Let us be a giver, like Him. I read that, Gratitude is a feeling, while “Thanksgiving is gratitude in action.” Gratitude or thankfulness compels us to act and focus not on the self nor the gift received, but the giver of the gift.

What will please and honor God most is if we obey His commands, the greatest of which is to love God with all our heart and to love our neighbor as ourselves. When we do this, we will give glory to His name.

When our hearts are full of thanks, they overflow. This overflow, in the form of giving back is what causes much joy.

Truly, “A grateful heart is a happy heart.” And when our joy overflows, we can’t help but share it.

Dear friends, here’s hoping that this article on the gift of gratitude will inspire you to live a more grateful life and let the cycle of gratitude, thanksgiving and joy continue.

Thank you Lord, for the gift of gratitude!

(For any comments or suggestions, please text 09175418313. Thank you.)