We all have a moments in which we focus on what we lack rather than on what we have. It’s easy for us to take for granted some of the blessings that surround us and at times we may be so used to having them, that we begin to see past them. We forget to see the little things that make our lives so richly blessed.
Like our family, friends, our relationship with God, our health, the ability to wake up each new day to see the sun and all of the wonderful creations around us. Sometimes we even forget to be grateful for the everyday things, like having running water, electricity, a bed to sleep on, a roof over our heads, food for ourselves and our families, transportation etc…We are surrounded by so many wonderful gifts that it would take forever to count them all…So, let’s not focus on what we lack but instead focus on how truly blessed we are to have so much in our lives.
The Greek philosopher Epictetus said;
“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.” 
There’s wisdom in being thankful for what we have. There’s wisdom in letting go of what we’re expecting or lacking, and it is wise to live a life with a heart full of gratitude for everything that we’ve had in the past, for everything that we have now and for what which God will bring into our lives in the future.
Thomas S. Monson said;
“We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our heart and attitude of gratitude.”
I love what we can learn from that quote, Refusing to be negative in our lives is something That we all need to work on. Can we go an entire day without being negative? Without complaining or making negative comments about ourselves and others? Let’s make this our goal to refuse to be negative and to push away all that negativity out of our lives…We don’t need it! Instead, let’s replace the negative by filling ourselves with feelings of gratitude constantly. By doing so, we will notice a HUGE difference In the way that we feel!!! 
Having a grateful heart brings joy and light into our lives which will overpower anything negative. Gratitude will bring more love, which will overpower or destroy feelings of pride, resentment or jealousy towards others. If we are truly grateful, we will have a desire to please God as a way of thanking Him for all of our blessings. And even though we will never be fully able to repay God for all that we have, all that He asks of us is that we are GRATEFUL for all that we have. We will notice that when we are grateful, our hearts will be softened, our words will change and our attitude of having a grateful heart will increase. It will heal our souls and bring peace as we let gratitude take over our hearts. 
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Alma 7:23 says:
And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.
So, let us all be Thankful for the incredible amount of blessings that God continually pours upon us. And with this gratitude to Him, let’s remind ourselves to do our very best to keep gratitude in our hearts daily and to remind others of how much God does for all of us. We can help those in need, by giving some of our material things and also helping them emotionally and spiritually. That our gratitude may be returned to God by our good deeds and that everything that we do will be done with love towards Him and those in our homes, our communities, our countries and around the world. That we may fill ourselves with goodness continually and that we may work to keep that feeling of gratitude inside each one of us internally.
The choice is always ours, God will continue to bless us and to help us as our gratitude grows. His spirit fill our souls when we are grateful and it will not only lift us spiritually but it will bring more beauty into our lives and into the lives of those around us. 🙂
Our Spiritual goal for the week is: To refuse to be negative! When you notice negativity in your mind or conversations, push it away by thinking about something that you’re GRATEFUL for!!! let’s notice how often we can stop ourselves from thinking about what we’re lacking or from having negative thoughts and instead focusing our minds on all that we are blessed to have.Thanking God daily for all that He is constantly giving us….Because even our breath is a gift. By focusing on this goal for the week we will experience the difference of how cultivating an attitude of gratitude can change our days! 🙂 <3
Our physical goal for the week is: To push ourselves to do something for our physical health. Working out can be hard sometimes, but the truth is that if we don’t push ourselves to do it…nobody else is gonna do that for us. If you want to try to come to class tonight then, make it happen for yourself! don’t let anything else get in your way! just show up and once you’re there, i’ll take care of motivating you to move 😉 We will have awesome music, we’ll burn calories, take some time to tone and at the end we will end with the most relaxing meditation to leave us feeling renewed for the rest of the week. I hope you can make it! and if you bring a friend who has never been, your class is free! But I promise you that these will be the best $5 you will ever spend on yourself…You just have to come see how amazing you’ll feel afterwards. <3
Have a blessed, wonderful and grateful week!
I’m thankful to have each and every one of you and I hope that you know that I love you and I care about you.If you need a friend or someone to talk to…I’m here for you. Have a Happy thanksgiving!!!
Love always,
LILI
