It’s the day Americans choose to celebrate with turkey, canned cranberry sauce, and football. Yes! It’s the day we decide to have a thankful heart. At least, that’s the idea.
However, that can be a challenge when you have an ungrateful relative. Maybe they had a challenging year. Or perhaps that has been their demeanor since you’ve known them. Regardless, one dour soul can bring down the whole group.
A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit.
Proverbs 15:13 NLT
Today, it may be easy for you to think of something that makes you glad. If so, take the time to consider it and feel the smile on your face return. If nothing else, hanging around, creative, silly kids will help. It will make a big difference to yourself and those around you.
Or today, you may be going through a tough time. Depending on your situation, it may be good to remind yourself that there are aspects of your life that make you glad. It could be your family, friends or work that brings you satisfaction.
But if your heart is broken today, I realize none of this will help. It takes time for a broken heart to heal. Give yourself grace and time to mourn. You will get through this eventually. When you hold on, you will find reasons to make your heart glad once again.
There is certainly no shortage of things to worry about today. Security of any kind feels like it’s in short supply. What seemed like a sure thing at the beginning of 2020 is a distant memory four months later.
Many of us have time on our hands, thanks to no commuting, travel or group activities. This week would have been busy for my wife and me because, well, it’s the week before Easter. But now, we have plenty of time wondering what we would have been doing if things were out and about.
Worry is counter-productive. It not only robs us of joy, but also creativity, hope, productivity, and well-being. It takes responsibility to improve things out of our hands and puts it in the hands of governments and institutions that are frankly struggling too.
If you find yourself worrying today, turn off the news, start finding some things to be grateful for, and ask what this makes possible. Start envisioning a future where you are on the other side of this crisis and are better for it. We will learn from this season. And remember, it’s only a season. Things will change. They will one day change for the better.
When it comes to competition, I haven’t been one to want to get on the podium for everyone to see. Oh, I love to win! I just haven’t been the guy who feels the need to rub it in the other person’s face.
There are things I want to accomplish, and I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had in the past as well as today. Gratitude is a way for me to see how much I really am winning. It can be the same for you.
Whenever you can take a moment to be thankful for your family and friends, you are winning. Whenever you see you have reasons to be thankful for food and shelter, it’s a form of victory. Celebrate that you are able to read and think. Be thankful for another day of life. These are all the reasons why you are winning today. Can you just hear Santana singing, I’m Winning just now? Maybe that’s just me.
We may not be the star athlete like the kid in my cartoon. We may find frustrations at school or work that make us wonder when was the last time you could take a victory lap. But every day we can get up and get out there in the world is a reason to celebrate. Just don’t lord it over everybody!
