Gratitude!

I apologize in advance for the length of this post!!

On Tues. this week for our YW activity we made gratitude journals. I think they turned out pretty nice. The girls were very creative. For the journals I printed up a bunch of quotes about gratitude for them to cut out and put through out there book for inspiration. I thought I'd post the quotes, there are a TON but they are all really good. I've been trying to focus on gratitude a lot lately. I've found life is much better when you focus on the good in your life and the things you do have rather then the difficult and things you are lacking. I'm going to start writing one thing I'm thankful for in my journal every day! Hurray for YW! I inspired myself! But I thought I'd start out by making a good long list of things I'm grateful for!

A Saviour who provided a way for me to return to his presence and a way to ease my burden.
The Gospel.
Family.
A husband that is unfathomably good to me!
Dogs that make me laugh everyday and teach me patience.
The "hard times" they are when I learn the most, grow closest to my saviour and become more humble.
A beautiful home.
Cars that run well and are reliable.
My past, I've had so many wonderful experiences, and some pretty awful ones that have made me the woman I am today.
Friends that are endlessly good and amazing.
Scriptures.
PRAYER, how grateful I am for personal communication with my Heavenly Father,
More then enough clothes (even though there are days I swear I have nothing to wear)
Changing seasons.
Cuddling.
Kisses.
Service, best way to get my mind of my troubles, help someone else.
A computer.
Internet.
Medical Technology.
The Office.
A good book.
Yoga.
Cell phone.
Food.
AC and Heating.
A job.
A great deal.
Camera/photos.
A super comfy bed.
Music.
Vacations.
Travel.
The future, it's going to be great!
Fresh cut grass.
Home made goodies.
A phone call.
I could go on but I need to leave my house in a bit, so I have to end my list. I just wanted to take a moment and be grateful for my many blessings!

I always love a good quote so I thought I'd share in case you love a good quote too!

He is my Savior and my Redeemer. Through giving His life in pain and unspeakable suffering, He has reached down to lift me and each of us and all the sons and daughters of God from the abyss of eternal darkness following death. He has provided something better—a sphere of light and understanding, growth and beauty where we may go forward on the road that leads to eternal life. My gratitude knows no bounds. My thanks to my Lord has no conclusion. Gordon B. Hinkley

It seems as though there is a tug-of-war between opposing character traits that leaves no voids in our souls. As gratitude is absent or disappears, rebellion often enters and fills the vacuum. I do not speak of rebellion against civil oppression. I refer to rebellion against moral cleanliness, beauty, decency, honesty, reverence, and respect for parental authority.As with all commandments, gratitude is a description of a successful mode of living. James E. Foust

Joy is the simplest form of gratitude Karal Barth

Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives to all those around you. Eileen Caddy

Gratitude consists of being more aware of what you have, then what you done. Anonymous

The clearest sign of wisdom is continued cheerfulness. Michel Montaigne

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not given it. William Arthur Ward

God has two dwellings; one in heaven and the other in a meek and thankful heart. Izaak Walton

Saying thank you is more than good manners. It is good spirituality. Alfred Painter

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul. Henry Ward Becker

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and crates a vision for tomorrow. Aldoy Beattie

Joy is an attitude; it is the presence of love-for self and others. It comes from a feeling of inner peace, the ability to give and receive, and appreciation of the self and others. It is a state of gratitude and compassion, a feeling of connection to yourself. Anonymous

Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put into words is all that is necessary. Margret Cousins

Gratitude is the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder. Gilbert K Chesterton

Everything we do should be a result of our gratitude what god has done for us. Lauryn Hill
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but live by them. John F. Kennedy

One can never pay in gratitude; one can only pay "in kind" somewhere else in life Ann Morrow Lindberg
Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy. Jacques Martin
Happiness in itself a kind of gratitude Joseph Wood Krutch
If the only prayer you said in your whole life was thank you, that would suffice. Meister Eckhart
The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated. William James
To see the world in a grain of sand & heaven in a wildflower, is to hold infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour. William Blake God has given us two hands one to receive with & the other to give with. Billy Graham

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. Thornton Wilder
There is a calmness to life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy. Ralph H Blum

At Living in the moment brings you a sense of reverence for all life’s blessings. Oprah Winfrey

At times your own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us. Albert Schweitzer

What sunshine is to flower, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but, scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable. Joseph Addison

I Each day comes bearing it’s own gifts. Untie the ribbons. Ruth Ann Schabacket

I thank God for my handicaps, for through them I have found myself, my works, and my God. Hellen Keller
Once we discover how to appreciate the timeless values in our daily experiences, we can enjoy the best things in life, Harry Kepner

In our daily lives, we must see that is it not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy. Albert Clarke

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. Albert Einstein

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude. Denis Waitley

Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity; It must be produces and discharged and used up in order to exist at all. William Faulkner

There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us to learn from. Elizabeth Kubnler-Ross

Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time. Then, your time on earth will be filled with glory. Betty Smith

Cherish yesterday, dream tomorrow, live today. Richard Bach

It is a glorious privilege to live, to know, to act, to listen, to behold, to love. To look up at the blue summer sky; to see the sun sink slowly beyond the line of the horizon; to watch the worlds come twinkling into view first one by one, and the myriads that no man can bound, and lo! The universe is white with them; and you and I are here. Ann.

Thankfulness is measured by the number of words; gratitude is measured by the nature of our actions. David McKey

Courtesies of a small and trivia character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart. Henry Clay

Two kinds of gratitude; the sudden kind we feel for what we take, the larger kind we feel for what we give. Edward Arlington Robinson

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others. Marcus Fullins Cicero

What a joy it is to feel the soft, springy earth under my feet once more, to follow grassy roads that lead to ferny brooks where I can bathe m fingers in a cataract of rippling notes, or to clamber over a stone wall into green fields that tumble and roll and climb in riotous gladness! Helen Keller

Be glad of life because it gives you a chance to love and to work and play and look up at stars. Henry van Dyke

Love wholeheartedly, be surprised, give thanks and praise- then you will discover the fullness of your life. Brother David Steindl-Rast

One who gives is one who lives a life of gratitude. Choose the attitude. Elevate your spiritual latitude. Leela Var

Praise, or gratitude is love or faith in action. Robert Scheid

If existence was over a miracle, then existence is always a miracle. Andrew Schwartz

There is only one thing that can for a bond between men, and that is gratitude…we cannot give someone else greater power over us then we have ourselves. Charles de Secondat

He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. Epictetus

I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new. Ralph Waldo Emerson

The heart is always the place to go. Go home into your heart, where there is warmth, appreciation, gratitude, and contentment. Ayya Rhema

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings. Eric Hoffer

Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life actually attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life. Christiane Northrup

If future generations are to remember us more with gratitude the sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology. We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created, not just as it looked when we got through with it. Lyndon B. Johnson

Let’s be grateful for those who give us happiness; they are the charming gardeners who make our soul bloom. Marcel Proust

It isn’t the big pleasures that count the most; it’s making a great deal out of the little ones. Jean Webster

For today and its blessings, I owe the world an attitude of gratitude. Clarence S Hodges

Be grateful for the home you have, knowing that at this moment. All you have is all you need. Sarah Ban Breathnach

I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all. Laura Ingalls Wilder
Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better then you current situation. Brian Tracy

Gratitude is a Spirit-filled principle. It opens our minds to a universe permeated with the richness of a living God. Bonnie D Parkin

The more we expressed gratitude, the more there was to be grateful for. Bonnie D Parkin

It is gratitude! No matter how challenging our circumstances, honest appreciation fills our mind to overflowing with gratitude. Richard G. Scott

We have so much for which to give thanks. We give thanks for commandments. Dallin H. Oaks

And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more. D&C 78: 19

Cease not to give thanks Ephesians 1:16

I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preserved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—Mosiah 2:20

And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Colossians 3: 17