Paisley: Hey everybody, welcome back Paisley in perfect here and
today we are going to talk about gratitude, because I have a lot
to be thankful for.
My thoughts today are going to be coming mostly from President
monson's talk from the 2010
October General Conference. It's titled The divine gift of
gratitude. And I'm not going to do my usual really deep dive
into it this time, because I'm
I'm feeling the lightness that comes with gratitude today, and
so I want to keep it light. We'll keep it light. We'll keep
it short
so President Monson says, do we remember to give thanks for the
blessings we receive? Sincerely, giving thanks not only helps us
recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven
and helps us feel God's love. So we feel God's love through
gratitude.
Just a couple of days ago, I was in a very dark place, and I
don't want to give too many details, because they're not my
details to give, but I will tell you this, I was worried about a
loved one, and I was worried to the point that everything seemed
very dark and scary.
Satan had a hold of my thoughts, and every rabbit hole that I
went down was one just filled with despair. I can't think of
another word to describe it. I tried to pull myself out, though
I will admit that I did not think to make a list of my
blessings. I didn't think about gratitude. I wish that I would
have, I wish I would have thought to make that list of all
of the things that I'm grateful for, because I think it probably
would have helped. But those rabbit holes were dark and deep
and scary, and I just,
I just didn't, I just didn't think about gratitude or being
grateful.
I did, finally, on Sunday night thing to ask for a blessing, and
some comfort came, and I was told, not in so many words, to
exercise my faith and let the Holy Ghost comfort me. The
reminders that I received during that blessing were things that I
felt grateful for during and after the blessing was over, but
I wasn't reminded to be grateful. I was reminded to
exercise my faith and let my faith be bigger than my fear,
but also almost instantly, I felt grateful for the reminders,
and that tiny little seed of gratitude started to grow today,
I am thankful for the ministering brother who came
over last night to help with the blessing, along with a family
friend who was here as well. I am grateful for smart people who
become doctors and use their talents to take care of our
loved ones. Another quote from President Monson from the same
talk, he said, regardless of our circumstances,
regardless of our circumstances. So for me, regardless of what
dark rabbit hole I have gone down now, each of us has much
for which to be grateful, if we will, but pause and contemplate
our blessings. This is a wonderful time to be on Earth.
While there is much that is wrong in the world today, there
are many things that are right and good. There are marriages
that make it, parents who love their children and sacrifice for
them, friends who care about us and help us, teachers who teach
our lives. Are blessed in countless ways, and I am here to
tell you that this next quote from President Monson sums up
nicely how I'm feeling today. He said, those things which provide
deep and lasting happiness and gratitude are the things which
Money cannot buy. Our families,
excuse me, our families, the Gospel, good friends, our
health, our abilities, the love we receive from those around us.
Those are the things that are helping me feel light today.
Those are the things that helped me when I was down in that
rabbit hole, be able to see a light shining down on me. And
like I said at the beginning, though, I want to keep this
light and
so there are two final quotes that I want to leave with you
from this talk. The first one, he said, a grateful heart then
comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father
for his blessings and to those around us for all that they
bring into our lives.
This requires conscious effort, at least until we have truly
learned and cultivated an attitude of gratitude. Often we
feel and intend to express our thanks, but forget to do so, or
just don't get around to it. Someone has said that feeling
gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and
not giving it. I.
I am so grateful for the people in my life. I'm grateful for my
village, and I need to make sure that I tell them. The final
quote that I share from President Monson is this quote,
to express gratitude is gracious and honorable. To enact
gratitude is generous and noble, but to live with gratitude ever
in our hearts is to touch heaven. I'm sure that there is
something that we can all feel gratitude for today, tonight or
tomorrow. Just find one thing and let it grow in your heart
until you feel this lightness. I cannot promise I will feel this
again tomorrow or the day after that. I hope that I do and I
hope going forward, that I remember when I am in those
deep, dark holes
to think of things that I am grateful for so that I can start
to again see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you for
being here today. Thank you for being a part of my village. I
appreciate all of your uplifting comments and all of your
encouragement. Keep it coming. I will love it. In the meantime,
keep growing, keep learning and find something to be grateful
for, until next time you guys, you.