86. Today I am grateful for “Today”

I was thinking today about what I might write about and a few things came to mind but then I went on the LDS.org website and read an article about talks given by Elder Hales on gratitude. This article included parts of his talks given during a general conference address in 1992 as well as this past General conference in October. It was a really powerful talk about the importance of expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father and to others.

I think part of writing in this blog and challenging myself to recognize daily specific blessings in my life is to also recognize the importance of gratitude. During my Thanksgiving entry I took some time to reflect on my experience with expressing gratitude daily and I think that is something that is important to do on an ongoing basis.

One of the things Elder Hales said is “Gratitude brings a peace that helps us overcome the pain of adversity and failure. Gratitude on a daily basis means we express appreciation for what we have now without qualification for what we had in the past or desire in the future.”  I like what he said about having gratitude for what we have now. I don’t often dwell on negative past experiences but I do often think about and worry that some of my desires for the future may not be fulfilled, as I wrote about in my first entry. While I will not give up on those goals and will strive to do what I can to achieve what I desire most in this life, I do also recognize the many blessings that I do have. I am grateful for where I am today, for what I have and I am happy with who I am.

As I reflect on my blog entries I realized that I have started each entry with “Today I am grateful ...” That phrase now has more meaning for me as I continue to write in this blog.