What We Don’t Need For a Happy Holiday

Melody Beattie once said, “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.”

Gratitude says we have enough. We are enough.

Because I am gratfeul, I have enough.

Commercial advertising says the opposite. It leads us to believe we need stuff, lots of stuff, in order to have a happy holiday and satisfaction with our bodies. Advertising says we need things for a happy life.

Acceptance for our current life leads to contentment. Contentment is the foundation of gratitude. However, for some, gratitude is the foundation for contentment.

However, gratitude living is not being blind to the situations around us. “To have a positive impact, [gratitude]  cannot be indiscriminate – it must be “gratitude with discernment”. ~ Alex Wood

There are times when something different is needed to have a happy life. This something different is taking the healthy steps of making healthy changes.

Truth be told, stuff is easier to acquire than real change. Too many times we use stuff to buy our way into relationships, to dull our senses to what we really need (like forgiveness, reconciliation, and telling the truth), and to keep us too busy to see what needs to be done. These last two actions (dulled senses and busyness) keep us from investigating, meditating, and examining our lives.

This holiday season we don’t need more things, more food and booze, and more over-the-top activities to have a happy holiday.

What don’t we need for a happy holiday? Stuff, activities, overindulgence.

What do we need? 

Gratitude. It is as simple and as hard as that.

We need gratitude for what we have in terms of relationships, material things, and our physical body, just to name a few. There is a quote that says, “What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?” That experience would certainly highlight how grateful we’ve been.

• Think about your most important relationships? Why are you grateful? Express that gratitude.
• Think about your material things? Why are you grateful?  Express that gratitude.
• Think about your body? Why are you grateful? Express that gratitude.

Gratitude will never be a result of your next purchase, success, or accomplishment. It is available in your heart right now. And you will never find gratitude in life until you intentionally decide to choose it. ~ Joshua Becker

Your Turn . . . 

• What was your initial thought when you read the title of this post, “What We Don’t Need for a Happy Holiday”?
• What was your answer?
• What do you think about the answer I gave?
• What will you do differently (Today? This week?) as a result of reading this post?

Related Posts . . .

• 3 Benefits of Month-Long Gratitude-Fest
• 40 More Ways to Cultivate Gratitude
• Choosing Gratitude And Why It Matters

Related Scripture . . . 1 Timothy 6:6 – ^“But godliness with contentment is great gain.” Read all these Scriptures for a fuller picture: 1 Timothy 6:6-10; 1 Timothy 6:17-18.