Gateways to Joy

For those who can't see the video, watch the video here by clicking on the highlighted words.  Thanksgiving Chair . Dwell on this today :-) And might you consider reading Psalm 107? Don't forget to go to the sidebar and quiet the music. xo, Angela blog subscription  | twitter | facebook

I give thanks throughout the day, count gifts.  Though I don't count them by writing them down as often as I'd liked.  I count nonetheless.  Pay close attention. I give thanks and count gifts and fear disappears.  Tension is gone.  I'm awake to my surroundings—my life. I know and believe that I am loved with an everlasting love, of this I am assured. He loves me.  He tells me through the little ... the daily activities, the ones I often take for granted, how much He cares.  Ugly times come.  Ugly times are here.  Yet, I fret not. For I know He is working it out.  This is part of His plan.  He's got the whole world in His hands.  My problems are no problem for Him.   My truth:  God will be with me.  God is for me. It's the absence of the thing that startles:  I feel no fear. . . There is no choking angst.  I am not anxious and I breathe easy and that worry child I've clung to, she deserts. I...

Gratitude is defined most simply as 'the condition of being thankful.  ... gratitude is literally one of the few things that can measurably change peoples' lives.'  But, and here's the self-help angle, 'gratitude (or thankfulness) is an effortful state to create and maintain.  It is not for the intellectually lethargic.' ... preliminary findings suggest that those who regularly practice grateful thinking do reap emotional, physical, and interpersonal benefits. ... Grateful people experience higher levels of positive emotions such as joy, enthusiasm, love, happiness, and optimism ... The practice of gratitude as a discipline protects a person from the destructive impulses of envy, resentment, greed and bitterness.'  That cultivating gratitude can fight depression is no small deal, as antidepressants have become the most prescribed medication in the nation.  Not only all that, but being grateful can, or might, also protect us from heart attacks, lessen p...