How do I begin to attract good things? Start with gratitude. Your eyes will begin to see all the things that you’ve been missing.
Application: While in Korea serving my church and God I was responsible for a small group of others who were also serving. At one time one of the Korean sisters in our group came to me crying. Her emotions were strong. Her feelings and countenance were dark. I felt resistance from her. I couldn’t see how I was going to help, especially since her stated cause of sadness and anger was things happening in her family. How was I, an American poor at the Korean language, going to affect this sister’s life for the better?
With a prayer in my heart for guidance I listened to her mountain of discords. When I spoke to her I found myself saying something that may in similar circumstances be laughed off. I asked her to essentially “Count Your Many Blessings”. With tears still in her eyes and now looking up at me with trust, she said that she was thankful for her beliefs. She spoke of her family and of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I allowed her to continue to think on these things and before long her tears of sadness had become tears of happiness for all that she had.
I didn’t have to change things in her life to improve her attitude and emotional state. All that needed to be done was for her to recognize that though discord DID exist in her life, her state of happiness didn’t have to hinge on that. While focusing on the things that she perceived to be stealing happiness from her, it was as if she was blind to the possibility of positive emotions. She couldn’t see them sitting right next to her. Once she acknowledged those possibilities her emotions soared to great heights.
This is powerful. I feel a lot of “negative” emotions lately about a big change that’s coming up in my life–emotions such as fear, anxiety, sadness, impatience–coupled with positive ones like excitement, and it all kind of buries me in this heap of intensity. I’ve found the only thing that will give me peace in those times is to be grateful that the Savior has a plan for me and that He is guiding me in it. When I acknowledge that fact, all those intense emotions become a very vibrant background to my world, they’re still there, but they no longer effect my happiness or misery.
It is really essential that we all step back every day and acknowledge all the many waonderful blessings that we have been given. We ARE a blessed people! We have a roof over our head, food, and all the necessities of life. If we become complacent about them, then we wallow in pity that we aren’t rich, don’t drive a Mercedes, etc… We are blessed with the love of Heavenly Father and our Savior! Thanks for reminding me of that fact! I love you!
I have a six-year-old brother who isn’t very gracious sometimes. For example, we’ll do a fun activity, like we’ll go on a walk to the park and play and laugh and have a good time. When we’re done, I’ll ask him how he liked the fun activity, and he’ll say, “I didn’t like it because I didn’t get to go down the slide enough times” or something lame like that. And I’ll think, “Good grief! You had ALL this fun, and you’re focusing on the ONE thing that didn’t please you! How greedy!! You can’t be pleased, no matter what people do for you!” I get all wrapped up in how selfish this little kid is, and then suddenly I’ll think, “What in MY life can I be more grateful for? What in MY life am I too greedy about? My hands are stubby — boo hoo. I have a million things going RIGHT for me, and I’m worried about stubby hands, and with stubby hands, I can’t be grateful for anything else I have. How pathetic.” (“Stubby hands” are, of course, just an example I just thought of right now because I am typing with them and I see them, but the example can be filled in with some more specific example if I can think of it.) The point is, it’s pathetic not to be grateful. Billie Holliday couldn’t sing many notes. But she didn’t cry about it and wish she were dead because of it. She made wonderful music with the voice she had. Louis Armstrong didn’t have a smooth, dreamy voice, either. His was raspy and a bit harsh. But he worked with it and was able to bless millions of people.
It’s a lot harder to bless others’ lives when we’re ungrateful and selfish with our own, isn’t it?