Gratitude is a Feeling, a Capacity, and a Choice & Friday’s Fave Five

When you learn something new, like a word, concept, or famous person, do you seem to run into it in many areas of your life?

I sure do especially in regards to gratitude. I frequently find quotes, songs, research studies, and whole chapters on gratitude in media that is not necessarily about gratitude.

Below is my latest find from this book, The 4:8 Principle: The Secret to a Joy-Filled Life by Tommy Newberry. Newberry states that gratitude is a feeling, a capacity, and a choice (pages 179-180).

The Nature of Gratitude

“Gratitude is a feeling. It is a sense of joy and appreciation in response to receiving a gift, whether that is a concrete object or an abstract gesture.”

Since I believe that EVERYTHING I have or receive is from the hand of God (directly or indirectly), ALL that I have or receive is a gift. So I want gratitude to be a natural and ongoing feeling.

 “Gratitude is a capacity. It is the learned skill of uncovering and creating meaning and value in everyday situations and relationships.”

This is why Friday’s Fave Fave (FFF) is such an important “report” to do each week. It gives me the weekly assignment of looking at the past 7 days and looking for the value in people, events, and things. Doing this helps me to not take people, events, and things for granted.

 “Gratitude is a choice. It is a conscious and deliberate decision to focus on life’s blessings rather than its shortcomings. Life will always have shortcomings, and it will always have virtues. When you focus on your blessings, your life feels abundant. When you focus on what’s missing, life feels incomplete.”

Writing my FFF post helps me to dwell on life’s blessings. And I do feel rich! So without further delay, here are five blessings from this past week.

ONE. I am on vacation and have been since last Friday. 2 days left before back to work. On Sunday my daughter had a party for my son, Tim. I gave him his birthday present: a remote controlled helicopter. I liked blessing him with a gift, card, and my presence. I certainly have been blessed by him.

TWO. A group photograph with our small family. Last year’s photo is the last one at this post.

Photograph of my family: Elizabeth (daughter), Daniella (daughter-in-love), Timothy (son), Susan (me – mom)

THREE. Since a grandbaby is about to make her debut, I hunted in the garage for the items I’ve kept since mine were infants. I found the baby blanket that Elizabeth’s great-grandma made for her. With Elizabeth’s blessings, I gave it to Daniella and Tim for their sweetheart. 

FOUR. Gardening at Elizabeth’s home. Each day of vacation I spent hours in the rest of the yard pruning. I am sore and I sure slept well. I have missed gardening and so this was a real treat for me.

Elizabeth and I went to the nursery to get plants for these beds. 20 minutes and 2 flats later we were on our way home to put these lovelies into their new home.

This post is about me being a gardener and why I enjoy gardening. I bought more daffodils this week in honour of Chip’s one year anniversary in Heaven. I MISS him a lot!

FIVE. I read five books. I am trying to empty my bookshelves and so took time this vacation to read. Besides being a wonderful way to pass time, I learn, get encouraged, and have fun.

• Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. I was surprised that this book had so many positive references to God, salvation, and the Bible. I was also surprised to find ONE sentence that was a whole page long!
• The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder. This Newberry Honor Book for young readers is a book I’ve had on my shelf for years and years. It was a fun, quick read and made me want to study Egypt again. Anyone want to do a unit study with me?
• The 4:8 Principle: The Secret to a Joy-Filled Life by Tommy Newberry. I wrote about this book at the top of this page.
• Traveling Light: Releasing the Burdens You Were never Intended to Bear by Max Lucado. Lucado’s book on the 23 Psalm was a quick read with a good study guide. I would love to do this book in a group.

Here are some posts I’ve written that have to do with books. . . . I am a Declutterer of Books  . . . .  How Good Books Aid in a Child’s Growth . . . .  13 Benefits of Reading.

Your Turn . . .  Read what other have posted. Or better yet, write about your own blessings and link up for this week’s Friday’s Fave Five.