This quote says Gratitude is a catalyst to all Christlike attributes! Or more simply, the parent of them! Hehehe, we had Father Christmas and now we have Papa Thanksgiving. Lol. So. I was like, “this is such a cute quote - but is it for real?” I’m setting out to prove it with the Young Women values. Maybe they’re going away, but they’re not bad to live by. Here is how gratitude relates to each one.
FAITH
Gratitude + faith is a great recipe for a testimony. When we have those spiritual experiences it’s so important to not check a box and move on. Living in the gospel is a constant process in life, and if we are grateful for the testimony we have already, we’ll continue to nourish it through gospel study and prayer.
DIVINE NATURE
Can we imagine a Heavenly Father who sits around, pouting, ungrateful for all of our accomplishments? That’s not how He is — and things like gratitude and other divine attributes are set in place for us to follow to become more like Him.
INDIVIDUAL WORTH
A lot of times this gets made all about self-love, and believe me, that’s important, but it’s also about loving others in a Christlike way. It’s about being grateful for the talents you’ve been given — and the talents of others as well. It’s being grateful for being the amazing person that is YOU and for being placed in the lives of others - out of the billions of people in the world!
KNOWLEDGE
You know how people say ignorance is bliss? How people avoid eye contact with homeless people or pretend that a person sitting alone at lunch isn’t there? It’s hard to know when someone has it worse than you, definitely uncomfortable sometimes.
I love the book “The Quiltmaker’s Journey” which talks about a girl who was rich and lived in a city with high walls. They were told never to go outside the walls, and she wondered why, and eventually escaped. There she saw the extreme desolate poverty that existed out of her little bubble. We can know that life isn’t perfect. We can not shy away from the statistics about poverty, starvation, malnutrition, disease, crime, mental health issues and courageously know that we have work to do. We can be grateful that we have circumstances we are in sometimes, but if we really care, we’ll try to help others who aren’t as fortunate.
CHOICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY
When you discover that you choose how to feel in every situation, and own up to it, it’s liberating and agonizing. It can be hard to see that you’re responsible for your choices, feelings, and actions, but it’s really great to see that you can choose to be grateful whenever you want.
GOOD WORKS
I can’t think of a more important example of service than being the 1 who says thank you, who shares a handwritten note, who expressed their gratitude even when they think it isn’t a big gesture that will make a huge difference because people do notice. Just one thank you can really make someone’s day.
INTEGRITY
Integrity is all about aligning actions with beliefs. Do you thank your mom for everything she does, then yell at her days later? Do you thank God for all of His blessings on you, then to start a fight? Do you claim to be thankful for the sacrifice of those like William Tyndale who was burnt at the stake and Moroni who hid forever in a cave and Joseph Smith, who was brutally murdered, while never ever even reading them? Just something to think about.
VIRTUE
Virtue is about being temple worthy, and it’s so easy to take for granted a nearby temple when it’s available. You hear the stories of people selling all they own to visit a temple hours away, riding on buses for days, making temple road trips... and sometimes it’s hard to remember to go when the temple isn’t exactly in your view. I’m in the Philly temple district, and there are lots more people in the area who have to travel much farther than I do. When I do go, we always hear that there are mostly people from the D.C. area attending since their temple is closed. Would I be willing to drive 3+ hours just to go to the temple? If I’m not even able to create time to go on the 25-minute drive, maybe I should start there. It’s so important to be grateful for the doctrine and blessings of the temple.
Alright y'all. That was a LONG post, but I am so glad I was able to write it. I want to bear my testimony that Personal Progress was an inspired program -- and we are moving on from it -- but that doesn't mean that we have to hate the good times we had with it while it was still here. I feel so lucky like I'm in the best of both worlds, as I get to watch and see for myself all of these inspired revelations and changes. And more info is coming!
When this publishes, we'll be like 1 week away from the Face to Face with Elder Gong! Woohoo! If you wonder anything at all, ask!! You never know if your question will be featured. Submit a question here, and while you're on your phone, if you have 30 seconds...it would be so cool if you could follow my Pinterest account. We're just getting started on that platform, and there is so much good stuff we've rounded up over there.
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