I raised a couple of teenagers and have helped take care of those grown-up teenagers\u2019.teenagers. I know well that they go through all spectrums of emotions at any given time. One day they\u2019re optimistic and in a good mood. The next day they can have sour attitudes that sour up a room like a big old dill pickle. We all know those mood swings because we were once teenagers. I remember me and I\u2019ll admit, I regret those times when I was less than grateful. Oh, how precious was my mother as she navigated me, single-handedly, through those rough waters of boyfriend troubles and school and test troubles \u2013 all that seemed so insurmountable \u2013 but they all came and passed \u2013 literally. I married the boyfriend and successfully passed the tests and graduated. My half empty perspective then, has turned into a half full glass today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s almost Thanksgiving Day and I\u2019m already forming my gratitude list in my head. In fact, yesterday morning I sent my usual morning text to my four \u2013 my two and their spouses. I said something like this to them: \u201cHappy Thanksgiving week, my loves. I\u2019m so looking forward to our special times together this week. Praying already that God makes this a year to remember in gratitude for His goodness and mercy that has kept us strong, healthy, lots of good food on our tables, being able to be God\u2019s hand extended to so many around us, protection in the midst of storms and accidents, laughter in the midst of tough times, and security and peace in abundance. We are so so blessed. I love you so much!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s so easy to a HALF EMPTY if we allow the negative to overtake our thoughts. You know \u2013 like:
\nI\u2019m thankful for Jesus, but I can\u2019t live up to his standards.
\nI’m thankful for my husband, but marriage is so much work.
\nI am thankful for my kids, but they never listen.
\nI am thankful for my home, but everything is falling apart.
\nI am thankful for my job, but it’s a dead-end job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You get the picture. I want the half full glass of gratitude that doesn\u2019t add BUT to my gratitude. I want the FULL glass of gratitude list of things that inspire thanksgiving in my heart \u2013 not a list that focuses on present difficulties and is void of hope in the good things to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We can be thankful, even in hardship, because our future is based on God\u2019s love, not on our perfection or our performance. Yes, we may experience temporary hardships, but they do not alter our eternal absolutes. Our hope is in Christ alone. \u201cBe joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer\u201d (Romans 12:12). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s the way to turn a glass half empty attitude into a full one!
\nI\u2019m thankful for Jesus, who covers me with His righteousness.
\nI am thankful for my husband and our blessed marriage.
\nI am thankful for my kids who are full of life and joy.
\nI am thankful for my comfortable home that is enough.
\nI am thankful for a job that I can grow in and be my best. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This glass half full list takes a little discipline. It requires a shift in thinking from temporary comfort to eternal security. It means releasing despair and embracing hope. Hope can inspire gratitude for what is and what will be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I leave you with this prayer for a Thanksgiving full of hope:
\n\u201cMay the God of hope fill you (a glass FULL) with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I raised a couple of teenagers and have helped take care of those grown-up teenagers\u2019.teenagers. I know well that they go through all spectrums of emotions at any given time. One day they\u2019re optimistic and in a good mood. The next day they can have sour attitudes that sour up a room like a big…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15689,15688,15687,15690],"tags":[1210,15691,1960,11951,15695,15694,39,15693,14108,43,2451,586,15692,13014,845],"class_list":["post-11451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-attitude-of-gratitude","category-glass-half-empty","category-glass-half-full","category-thanksgiving-day","tag-blog","tag-emotions","tag-glass-half-empty","tag-glass-half-full","tag-good-mood","tag-gratitude-list","tag-hope","tag-mood-swings","tag-mypeacezone-com","tag-optimistic","tag-perspective","tag-rejoice","tag-sour-attitude","tag-teenagers","tag-thanksgiving-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11451"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11455,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11451\/revisions\/11455"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}