Gratitude

Like most people at this time of year, I have been feeling more acutely grateful for the blessings in my life. I read a message by President Eyring and it touch me deeply. I have seen a direct coorelation between the gratitude that I feel and my level of happiness. My circumstances have not really changed. But I have drawn closer to Heavenly Father through gospel study, and therefore, have felt more grateful, and then more happy with my life. I like this part of his message because he stresses the need to pray for gratitude.

"Most of all, sometimes it is hard for us to be sufficiently grateful for the greatest gifts we receive: the birth of Jesus Christ, His Atonement, the promise of resurrection, the opportunity to enjoy eternal life with our families, the Restoration of the gospel with the priesthood and its keys. Only with the help of the Holy Ghost can we begin to feel what those blessings mean for us and for those we love. And only then can we hope to be thankful in all things and avoid the offense to God of ingratitude.

We must ask in prayer that God, by the power of the Holy Ghost, will help us see our blessings clearly even in the midst of our trials." (President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints).