Today is Day 5 of the 31 Days challenge. So far, so good. I've been able to have a post every day, and I realize each time I write a blog post how very much I have to be thankful for. You may have noticed that I don't start counting at one every day. Instead, I pick up where I left off the previous day. I thought that it would be neat to do this so that at the end of the month I could look back and see just how much there is to be thankful for.
I realized today that I have yet to give a definition of what thankfulness is. Here I am, counting all that I have to be thankful for, and I haven't even looked at what it means to be thankful. Well, let's remedy that.
Thankful-conscious of benefit received; expressive of thanks; well pleased
Seeing as the definition mentions the words thanks, let's go ahead and look at the definition for that, too.
Thanks-kindly or grateful thoughts; an expression of gratitude
And, since grateful is often used interchangeably with thankful, let's go ahead and look that up as well.
Grateful-appreciative of benefits received; expressing gratitude; affording pleasure or contentment; pleasing by way of comfort supplied or discomfort alleviated.
I think that the definition of grateful is the one that best expresses it. "Appreciative of benefits received." After all, isn't that what we're doing when we count what we're thankful for, expressing appreciation for what we've received? I think so.
Looking at these definitions has definitely made me look at thankfulness in a new way, as strange as that may sound. I shouldn't just be listing off things that I have just to list them; they're things that I should be grateful and appreciative of. I need to make sure that during this month I don't just put down something because I need more items to list on here to make it look good. I should be appreciative of and grateful for every single thing that I list here. With that in mind, let's take a look at my list for today.
I'm thankful for...
37. Encouraging words from a friend.
38. Finding a note from a friend left on my desk meant to make me smile.
39. Hugs. (I just love hugs, don't you?)
40. Back rubs that help me relax and help lessen the pain from a migraine.
41. Rainy days that are wonderful for sleeping.
42. Finally getting my appetite back after over a month with no appetite.
43. Making plans with friends for the weekend.
44. Cell phone and unlimited texting.
45. Discovering new Christian artists and bands via facebook.
46. Knowing that God hears and answers our prayers.
What are you thankful for today?
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