Practice Makes Perfect?

It's easy to go through my day with blinders on, not looking for things to be thankful for.

 New habits take time to create. Three months, some say. I'm on day eight. I'm still working on improving my "stinkin' thinkin'" (negative, untrue thoughts), still learning to look for gifts to be thankful for, even in the mundane. Thanks to the accountability I created for myself when I started this blog, I've had at least a couple new items every day. I'm thankful for that, because without it, it would be VERY easy to just go through the motions of life. Even finding one or two new items to count as blessings each day is progress. Big change doesn't happen over night, right?

So today I choose to be thankful for my progress, thankful for the accountability that keeps me working toward my goal. It's not that there haven't been many great gifts today (squealing baby laughs in the nursery at church this morning, a great visit with a mom who stayed with her child who would not be left, and a fabulous afternoon at a hay ride and wiener roast with the girls), it's just that I haven't been feeling especially joyful the past couple of days... and tonight in my reading I found the answer.

"While I may not always feel joy, God asks me to give thanks in all things, because He knows that the feeling of joy begins in the action of thanksgiving." Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts

I hadn't been thanking God for those gifts as I received them. The good news is that it's never too late to thank God for His gifts. As I sit here tonight contemplating my day, my progress, and giving thanks for all these things and more, I can literally feel my attitude and mood shifting. Nobody ever said it would be easy, but it really is that simple.