Being thankful vs. being grateful

I'm knee deep in being 'grateful' today. So I'm throwing out this post from last year at this time...it's a short one, but one I that helped me through the craziness.

I am thankful for a lot of things. I can list all day what I am thankful for…Everything from Family to fingernail clippers. I have so much to be thankful for it is almost embarrassing. But, I learned a hard lesson this week, and wanted to pass it on.

Thankfulness mostly consists of words.

Gratitude is putting your thankfulness into action.

I’m all about words people. You all know that. I write for many reasons…to help others, but mostly to help me. If I am honest, my blog is mostly for me. Sometimes I feel selfish about the amount of time I spend nurturing it. It’s a place I can accomplish something…a place to be thankful. But am I really showing how grateful I am for my blessings by just sitting here? Surly the world/my family would benefit from me getting off my butt and making a difference.

So I made a list of what I am thankful for…a very very long list. And then I went back and found a way to turn my thankfulness into action.

So today…I get up. I show my house the gratitude I have for it by vacuuming its floors. I will lovingly hang up the clothes to show my gratitude that we have so many of them; I can fill up ten loads. I will wash the breakfast dishes to show my gratitude that I had the means to feed my children. I will clean my toilet to show my gratitude for indoor plumbing. (Seriously…there are those in the world that don’t have this!) I will take a shower to show my gratitude for my body. I will do these things and then go help at the school Thanksgiving parties to show my gratitude for public education.

So here I go. Putting it all into action!

UGH!

Gratitude kinda' bites. :)

And this just in: My sweet facebook friend Kimberly just put this quote on her status. Brilliant!

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."- John Fitzgerald Kennedy