In honor of Thanksgiving I have decided to post a short video I filmed and edited on a little digital cam-quarter shortly after I graduated high school. Here is the video:
I believe with all my heart what Lacey says in this video. I have experience the difference that gratitude makes in my daily life.
When I was on my mission I was keeping a journal, but (as I have mentioned on this blog before) my journal became more about my daily activities and less about what I was thinking. One of the moments where that began to change was in Bluefield, Virginia. Anita Bennett gave a talk in Sacrament meeting on gratitude. I really look up to the Bennett family and their faithfulness and devotion to Jesus Christ, so of course, I perked up and really payed attention. Sister Bennett cited a study done where they asked one group of people to write something they were grateful for every day. A second group was simply asked to write something that happened to them every day. After a couple months, they noticed a huge difference in the attitudes of the people that wrote down what they were grateful for, while the other group had little change in attitudes. The group that looked for the blessings in their lives were much happier over time and looked for reasons to be happy.
Around the same time that Sister Bennett gave this talk, President Thomas S. Monson said this in General Conference, "Take an inventory of your life and look specifically for the blessings, large and small, you have received" ("Consider the Blessings," October 2012).
Between those two talks, I decided I would start a separate journal, a gratitude or tender mercies journal. In a little spiral notebook I wrote down at least one thing I was grateful for every night. It started off being easy; I mentioned my family, living in America, being a member of the Church, etc., but soon I had to start getting more creative. As I kept doing it every night until the end of my mission, I noticed a huge change in my happiness. I have come to realize that happiness and gratitude go hand-in-hand for me.
I continue this ceremony to this day. Melissa (my wonderful and beautiful fiance) and I tell each other at least one thing we are grateful each day. In addition to that, I always try to mention one thing I'm grateful for in my journal.
For me, this ceremony has not become a burden; actually, it's become something that I couldn't live without. I know that God is there and because I try my best to recognize it daily, I see His hand in my life every single day.
Below is a song about gratitude that I love.
I believe with all my heart what Lacey says in this video. I have experience the difference that gratitude makes in my daily life.
When I was on my mission I was keeping a journal, but (as I have mentioned on this blog before) my journal became more about my daily activities and less about what I was thinking. One of the moments where that began to change was in Bluefield, Virginia. Anita Bennett gave a talk in Sacrament meeting on gratitude. I really look up to the Bennett family and their faithfulness and devotion to Jesus Christ, so of course, I perked up and really payed attention. Sister Bennett cited a study done where they asked one group of people to write something they were grateful for every day. A second group was simply asked to write something that happened to them every day. After a couple months, they noticed a huge difference in the attitudes of the people that wrote down what they were grateful for, while the other group had little change in attitudes. The group that looked for the blessings in their lives were much happier over time and looked for reasons to be happy.
Around the same time that Sister Bennett gave this talk, President Thomas S. Monson said this in General Conference, "Take an inventory of your life and look specifically for the blessings, large and small, you have received" ("Consider the Blessings," October 2012).
Between those two talks, I decided I would start a separate journal, a gratitude or tender mercies journal. In a little spiral notebook I wrote down at least one thing I was grateful for every night. It started off being easy; I mentioned my family, living in America, being a member of the Church, etc., but soon I had to start getting more creative. As I kept doing it every night until the end of my mission, I noticed a huge change in my happiness. I have come to realize that happiness and gratitude go hand-in-hand for me.
I continue this ceremony to this day. Melissa (my wonderful and beautiful fiance) and I tell each other at least one thing we are grateful each day. In addition to that, I always try to mention one thing I'm grateful for in my journal.
For me, this ceremony has not become a burden; actually, it's become something that I couldn't live without. I know that God is there and because I try my best to recognize it daily, I see His hand in my life every single day.
Below is a song about gratitude that I love.
You have such an interesting blog. Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed reading your posts. All the best for your future blogging journey.
ReplyDeleteThank-you Sridhar! I really enjoyed writing it.
DeleteI went to your webpage and read about the six important human relationship skills. I thought it was really interesting as well! It's amazing how important subtle things can be when we are communicating. I really liked it. For me, the most important element of communication is being sincere and genuine; when what I am communicating is really in my heart, then the rest of the elements you talked about on your page seem to fall into place a lot easier.
Also, I think it's really interesting how much you talk about empathy. I believe that is sooo important! I've never really thought about how it relates to persuasion, but it totally makes sense. For me that makes me think of how my communication to someone is much more elevated when I really care about someone and have tried to put myself in their shoes.
P.S. I have never been to India. What is it like there?