I have the secret to a good night sleep, EVERY NIGHT!

The ugly truth is that human beings do not have a thankful heart by nature. Nope. Some of us are more thankful in general, as a baseline frame of mind but by nature we are a selfish lot. Own it or not...that is the truth. However, being thankful, REALLY BEING thankful can become part of our everyday. It must be practiced and become a "habit". We don't get up in the morning and start cking off the things we need to do...like brush teeth, get dressed, take a shower, etc. We just do these things. Right? Well, having a heart of gratitude can be one of those automatic things you do. We must practice it though. For our country, November is a great time to get a booster shot of being thankful. I cherish the fact that I have come to this "thankful heart" realization while my kids are still young so I can train them up to be thankful. Being thankful will not be an afterthought for them like it is or was for me. Praise God!! (that is my hope anyway) Here are some interesting statistics as collected by a secular study.

Gratitude and Well-Being
A large body of recent work has suggested that people who are more grateful have higher levels of well-being. Grateful people are happier, less depressed, less stressed, and more satisfied with their lives and social relationships [18][19][20]Grateful people also have higher levels of control of their environments, personal growth, purpose in life, and self acceptance. [21]Grateful people have more positive ways of coping with the difficulties they experience in life, being more likely to seek support from other people, reinterpreted and grow from the experience, and spend more time planning how to deal with the problem.[22] Grateful people also have less negative coping strategies, being less likely to try and avoid the problem, deny there is a problem, blame themselves, or cope through substance use.[22]Grateful people sleep better, and this seems to be because they think less negative and more positive thoughts just before going to sleep[

Ok...let me highlight THIS part again... grateful people sleep better. (Thus the title of this post! Who out there doesn't want this!)

Let me conclude by saying a few things.
1. I needed to go to scripture to see what God had to say about being thankful.
2. I am so flawed that I need to practice this type of heart attitude in order for it to become part of my life. I was not raised in a grateful environment. Lots of grumbling, arguing, negativity....I don't want that for my children. I want something better!


God is clear about being thankful. He asks us to ALWAYS be thankful. Yikes. Say again? Well, in several verses, we are called to focus on being thankful for everything. Even yucky stuff. Now, God is not wanting us to be happy and thankful FOR the yuck that happens in our lives but He wants us to get our eyes off that yuck (cause it is going to be there) and look at the good. Sometimes the best thing a person is able to see in a situation is their faith. As they look around they see nothing else good. They have only their faith to cling to. Some of us have tons of wonder around us but ONE thing that is yucky will drag us down into a huge pity party. (Don't you hate that when you do that? Me too!) Wherever you fall right now, get your eyes off you...get them on Jesus and read some of His word.

Psalm 100:4-5 from the Message bible says: Enter with the password: "Thank you!" Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him. 5 For God is sheer beauty, all-generous in love, loyal always and ever.

Philippians 4:4-7 from NKJV says: Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 in the NIV says: 16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

These are just a few verses. There are so many! This last one is a great one. Did you miss it? Verse 18 tells us what God wants for us. He wants us to be joyful, do lots of praying (cause that is how we get closer to Him so in essence He is telling us He things we rock and He wants to chat with us!!) and be thankful ALWAYS!

If the God of the universe, the creator of all things is telling me He wants me to be thankful....well, golly gee. I think I aught to make it a habit. Amen? Amen.