Giving thanks a worthy practice

Published: November 27, 2008

Giving thanks was a part of every meal I shared with my parents, from the time I was born until their death. In addition to being thankful for food on the table, I watched them find something in every set of circumstances for which to be grateful.

If a loved one died, they were thankful for friends who comforted them. If they faced an uncertain future, they were thankful for God’s guidance. If someone was seriously ill, they were thankful for the doctors and nurses who cared for them.

If I did well in school, they thanked God for the good mind He had given me and the teachers who taught me.

If they were celebrating, they were thankful God had created them with the ability to feel joy. If they were angry with someone, they asked God for help to not hurt that person back, and then they thanked Him in advance for His help.

If it was raining, they thanked Him for the moisture. If the sun was shining, they thanked Him for the warmth. If there was lightning, hail, thunder and ominous-looking clouds, they thanked Him for shelter from the storm.

Giving thanks was not a once-a-week, or once-a-year, occurrence; it was a natural part of every day.

I now realize the reason I have lived my life feeling blessed is because of all the thanksgiving I had modeled for me.

Even now, when I am in a difficult place, I automatically look for something for which to be thankful. I always find it.

Lest you think I am out of touch with reality, let me be clear. Being grateful is not in any way a denial of life’s difficulties.

Life brings challenges, uncertainties, disappointments, losses and heartaches.

What gratitude does for me amid those times is to shape my attitude in such a way that enables me to survive, keep living and even grow from the experience.

I have at times felt more pain than I thought I could endure, but also more joy than I ever imagined. I suspect the ability to recognize both is a direct result of the attitude of two parents who showed me that in the good times and the bad, there is something for which to give thanks.

Whether or not you believe in or pray to that one I call God, gratitude is still a good way to live your life.

Do not take this day, or any day, for granted. Find the good in it. I promise you there is some there.

Charlotte Lankard is a marriage and family therapist and director of the James L. Hall Center for Mind, Body and Spirit at Integris. Send e-mail to clankard@cox.net or go online to www.charlottelankard.com.

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