We hear it all the time. We should learn to be more grateful. We should learn to count our blessings instead of our curses. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! Sometimes statements like this are difficult to listen to. Sometimes we just want to slap the person on the other end of those words. Is that you?

I struggled with this for a very long time. I’m a very deep person and it is overwhelmingly difficult for me at times to laugh at silly things that I consider superficial. I thought that made me a bad person. If I did laugh, it was usually fake, because I did not want to appear rude. The truth is, that led me to understand that I knew very little about being grateful.

As a child, I was given almost anything I wanted. I was nothing short of a spoiled brat, who wasn’t always grateful. I expected great things to just come to me. If they didn’t, I was upset. Ask anyone who knew me then who knows me now. They will tell you that I am a different person.

Things have changed, by the grace of GOD! I have made a choice to be grateful in ALL things. I learned what James 1:2 meant by “Count it ALL Joy.” We are reminded to be grateful in a couple different versus – 1 Thessalonians 5:18 and Ephesians 5:20. I encourage you to look for others. They do exist.

Today, I am the person who sees the good in almost everything. It did take a lot of practice though. At first, I had to purposely look for the good in bad situations. It started out with saying things like, “it will get better.” That is honestly the only good thing I could think of in some situations. I made a choice to find the positive in all situations and to speak them out loud. There is great power behind our spoken words!

If you are around me long enough today and you tell me how bad your life is, then you may get a laundry list of all the positive things I see in that situation. I’m not purposely doing it anymore. It is just a part of who I am. I am known now as an encourager, with a positive attitude – who speaks life into others. It is a high compliment for others to notice that in me. It took a lot of work to get there. Some people are highly annoyed by it, I am sure. If that’s you, then maybe you need to check your “Attitude of Gratitude.”

The more we practice and refine our characteristics to become more polished and Christlike, the easier it becomes. Things that we thought were impossible are now viewed from our rear view mirror. They were once a faraway goal – One that we saw as impossible to meet. When we look back, we realize that the impossible was made possible. And that the impossible may not be as far away as we think.

I even learned to laugh a little more. So, have a little laugh now and then – even at the silly things! It really is a good medicine (Proverbs 17:22)