Thankful Thursday

A lesson I am learning, and relearning over and over again in my little life, is the importance of being grateful. I am not naturally good at being grateful and recognizing all the good things I have. I don't think I'm pessimistic necessarily, me and Grandpa Garth prefer to call ourselves realists. ;)

Being grateful isn't beating yourself up that you have good things when others perhaps do not. Being grateful isn't gloating how many good things you've got. I think in essence, gratitude is that moment when you pause and think 'if this isn't nice, I don't know what is'. It's just taking a moment, even just half a second to look up from the grind and responsibilities we have to see at least one thing that is genuinely good in our lives. When things are hard or difficult, it's hard (at least for me) to see all the good that is still around me. I get so focused on the one unpleasant thing and invest all of my energy into it and suddenly life looks very bleak. But it isn't. I mean, not really. No matter how difficult or what obstacles we have to face, there are always things to glean happiness from.

I think it is a good idea, to take time and acknowledge the things, big and small, that give me reason to be happy and grateful.

Things I am grateful this week

• My dad. Minus the years in my childhood we were most definitely not friends, he has been the closest thing I've ever had to a best friend. I used to be embarrassed that I never had a 'best friend' in high school, I had a lot of wonderful friends, but no one I ever felt was my absolute best friend. And as I've gotten older, I realized I've always had one. There isn't anyone else that loves and supports me the way he does, and not just on the Fatherly level. Literally he is not just my dad, he's my best friend. I love all the talks we have, I love that he texts us pictures of George Strait or Lonesome Dove quotes, and I love that he somehow manages to live in a house full of girls without going crazy. 
• I'm thankful for random compliments. It seems like any time I'm having a rough moment, someone will randomly say something nice to me. And as small as it seems, it brightens me up a little. 
• Southern Utah. I'm grateful to live in Southern Utah. I know, it isn't a place that everyone loves, and the small town quirks drive a lot of people nuts. But, I love this area, and everything about it. I feel it is a good fit for me, and I'm grateful that I was born and raised here. 
• I'm grateful for every time a client at work after asking my name, immediately asks if I'm related to 'Wally Heap'. It makes me smile and feel proud to be associated in a small sense with that amazing guy. 
• I'm grateful for kinda random people who take me on late night adventures to the car wash and up on the mountain. 
• I'm thankful that one of my classes this semester ended up being a philosophy of religions class. I have been opened up and introduced to so many different belief systems and ways of worship. I can easily see all the good things that each sect of religion offers. But, I'm most grateful that it has been an opportunity for me, to compare these other belief systems to my own, and strengthening my testimony that the Church I belong to is the absolute correct answer for me.