“I thank God for my handicaps, for through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God.”
(Helen Keller)

Thanksgiving’s on Thursday here in the U.S., so why not have a week of gratitude.* The rest of the week we’ll have some assignments, but for today, some thoughts:

What’s the opposite of gratitude? Well, ingratitude, of course. But there’s more. As I’ve coached and spoken to thousands around the world, I’ve learned gratitude has some other opposites as well:

–Fear, because being thankful for everything can actually lead us to welcome anything…even those things that scare us.
–Loneliness, because feeling grateful connects us with God and the universe (and makes us more attractive people without even trying)
–Anxiety, because choosing to think on the enormous blessings in life, instead of what we don’t have, tends to ward off our worries

And perhaps most of all, the opposite of gratitude is anger, because while anger is hating the way things are, gratitude is loving what is.

*On Friday I promised to address more of the growing movement against social media this week, but it’s Thanksgiving! (I’ll share some thoughts on Twitter and the like next week.)

Peace begins with pause,