Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts Colossians 3:16
I was speaking with a client the other day about gratitude as a remedy to the “what ifs”. He stated that he sometimes caught himself asking “what if I had not married?”; “what if I had children?”; “what if I had not experienced my childhood medical issues?”
The problem with these questions is that they helped inform a victim narrative. He recognized that he is not a victim, but an overcomer. He knows that gratitude is the proper remedy for negative thinking. We discussed the idea that gratitude can be either intentional or emotional in origin. That is, we can be grateful because we feel the emotion of gratitude, or we can intentionally offer gratitude, even when we don’t necessarily “feel it”. So, even if we are not feeling especially blessed on a certain day, we intentionally recognize the blessings we have.
I think that is a wonderful mindset to have.
Prayer: Lord, we are indeed grateful for our blessings, seen and unseen, Amen
Reflections of a Counselor 