"The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life. Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man!" - President Joseph F. Smith
On Wednesday, my son got in trouble at school. When I got home from work and we had a chat about what had happened, he shared with me just how horrible his life was. He was upset that nobody was interested in hearing how the other kids in class were acting up too, or about how incompetent the teacher was. In short, his life was terrible because I did not accept any of his excuses about why he was kicked out of math class.
After I listened to him rant for a minute, I explained to him that he should be thankful for the things he does have. Like President Smith said in this quote, I started to enumerate the things for which he could be grateful. Life will not always give us what we hope for - it is not always fair in our favor. But if we will stop and be thankful for the things we DO have, it will make enduring the difficult times easier.
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