[a post on thankfulness]

I think I've posted about thankfulness before... yeah, pretty sure I have. But that's okay, because it's one of those topics that doesn't get old quickly. 

Anyways, I was nominated to do the 5-day gratitude challenge, or whatever the official title of it is called, but instead of doing the challenge over 5 days (I did day #1 yesterday already), I decided to just combine the last four days into a blog post... because I want to write about thankfulness, and that way y'all don't have to see stuff from me every single day. This is just easier. :)

Now, you can be thankful for the little things in life and you can be thankful for the big things in life. I personally think it's important to appreciate BOTH - the little things can bring us so much joy, the big things are great too. We never know when something may be lost and we won't have the chance to be thankful for it any more.

I think that being thankful is a mindset. It's a mindset of not taking things for granted, appreciating what things you do have even on hard days, and taking the time to enjoy those little moments in life that we never want to forget. (p.s. this mindset lasts for longer than a 5 day challenge).

Guys, we live in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - do you know what that means? It means we're some of the most blessed people in the whole. wide. world. And you know what? I think that despite that, we still complain more than any other country in the world (I could be wrong, but that's what it seems like). Don't get me wrong, I complain too... sometimes a lot, but that is not something that I want to be known for or something that I am proud of. 

When I take a step back and look at the big picture, there is no reason for Americans to be so ungrateful about everything. C'MON EVERYONE-- when I look at the news going on around the world, I can't help but be amazed at how blessed I am. I can worship God freely, I can proclaim my agreement or disagreement with politicians, I don't have to worry about leaving my house and getting blown up, any citizen 18 & up can vote (regardless of race or gender), we all have food on our tables, we have soldiers who fight to protect us and our rights, most of us have parents who care about us, people have the ability to choose to educate their kids how they want... ALL OF THESE THINGS (the list goes on and on)... and yet, people still complain or point out how they don't have the newest phone model, so their life is just really terrible, or they're just soooo tired of going to school and they wish they could stay home all day. That is lame. We take so many things for GRANTED here, things that other people in other countries would be so grateful to have (like education, food, a family, protection, a government that isn't openly terribly corrupt and goes about killing all its citizens, etc. (guys I know our government isn't the best... but it's still way better than governments in other countries)).

We are so focused on getting MORE that we forget what we already HAVE. We somehow look past all of the things that we have been blessed with and instead all we want are things that we don't have, and we think "oh, well if I had that, then I wouldn't want anything else because that thing would make me happy". In the words of one of Jake Owen's songs... "We all want what we ain't got".

Things are SO flipped around in the world. We have everything but complain as if we have nothing, and people in other countries have nothing and still are so thankful for even the littlest things in life. That doesn't make sense.

Closing thoughts: Be thankful for what you have, because... someday you may not have that stuff any more. Be grateful for the friends that you have now and your loving family. Right now have the ability to speak up about your beliefs and to talk to people in power about why you think they should change their ideas or what you like about what they're doing - not everyone has that in other countries. Take full advantage of your education, because even though a lot of people in my generation don't enjoy it or care about their education, we are so blessed to even be able to take the classes that we do and go to colleges and universities and gain knowledge. 

YOU have been incredibly blessed where you are right now, understand that. Now go forth and be thankful in your life for the little things and the big things, and if somehow you lose everything in life, still be thankful that you serve a great God who has given you life on this earth. Finally, make being thankful a mindset, not just something that you do occasionally or for a 5 day challenge. 

1 Thessalonians 5:18 "... give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."