Is it really true, that we think people are grateful because they are happy? Perhaps, if we look closely, you will find it is the other way around. People are happy because they are grateful. When we are thankful for whatever is given to us, no matter how difficult, no matter how uninvited it may be, the thankfulness itself makes us happy.
Brother David Steindl-Rast in Music of Silence: A Sacred Journey through the Hours of the Day
IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR WHEN WE TAKE TIME TO REFLECT AND EXPRESS GRATITUDE FOR ALL THAT WE HAVE AND ALL THAT WE ARE.
But do we really take the time? Do we recognize everything as a gift. I hope and pray that we can recognize everything as a gift and express our gratitude whenever possible.
As Brother David suggests, this would be a happier world for us if we could look at all that happens to us with an attitude of gratitude that leads to happiness.
When someone helps me with a task, comes to my aid when needed, or just plain shows up out of nowhere when I’m in trouble, I call them my Angel. There are times when I experienced this Angel activity many times over.
Others have shared similar experiences, and we are always amazed and grateful for these angelic encounters.
These events help me to appreciate the fact that gratefulness leads to happiness. Thank God, someone came along at the right time and in the right place to change what could have been a traumatic event to an uplifting one.
One point I would like to make here is that these Angels appear almost daily in my life and at the end of the day when I think about what were the happy moments that day, at least one or two of them involve people who have come to my aid in mostly simple but helpful ways.
Almost every day someone holds a door open for me when I appear with my cane and some item in hand, that make it difficult to open the door myself. A parking place opens near the store just as I turn in to find a closer space. I can’t reach the cereal box on the top shelf in the grocery store and inevitably someone comes along and gives me a hand.
I find myself grateful and happy that another Angel has come along to assist me in some daily tasks. I also call them an Angel when I thank them for their assistance.
Thanksgiving is not a one day event out of the year, but a daily attitude that makes us ever closer to developing relationships with others in unexpected and helpful ways.
I challenge you to take some time to reflect on the daily experiences in which you find yourself being happy because you have helped someone else and been an Angel to them.
Perhaps you will become someone who seems to be such a happy person because you know that thankfulness itself makes you happy and is an opportunity to be an Angel to someone!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Sister Mary Thill is a Sylvania Franciscan Sister. She can be reached at mthill@sisterosf.org. ✲
