Gratitude

“Switch your perspective, Hannah.”–These words were a catalyst to my spiritual and personal growth over the last two years.

Challenged to start a gratitude journal, I had no idea of the impact that that was going to have on my life. In fall 2021, I began to daily write down 5 things I was grateful for each day. And there could only be repeats if it was something that was an ongoing circumstance; otherwise, it had to be 5 new and different things each day. This practice literally rewired my brain. It took time, but it was and continues to be an incredible tool to keep my perspective balanced.

Let me explain.

We have discussed before how two opposing emotions cannot hold space in your brain at the same time. This is why attitude is so powerful. Your attitude and how you choose to respond to the circumstances and environment around you is what ultimately shapes what you take away from the situation and how you filter other’s responses.

Your emotions are a gift from God. They can be used for your harm or for your good by YOUR choice. Father God gave man free choice and emotions back in the Garden in Genesis 1. He called it “Good.” It wasn’t until mankind listened to and received doubt into their hearts that emotions became a volatile compass. ALL emotions were given by God but are perverted through sin. This is why it is so important to not allow your emotions to rule you, but rather you submit your emotions to Christ. (Notice I didn’t say, rule your emotions. I believe that we can only get so far on our own power. Without the daily renewal of our mind in Christ, we will continue to fall into the emotional trap cycle.)

It is my personal belief that anger is a perversion of passion that was given by God to man.

It is my personal belief that anxiety and fear is a perversion of gratitude and peace.

Therefore, it is my personal belief that it takes overcoming one of these perversions of our emotions with what God intended them to be; aka, renewing your mind; aka, switching your perspective.

Doing a daily Gratitude Journal did this for me. It forced me to reevaluate everything that had taken place in the prior 24hrs. It helped me to begin to perceive things happening for me rather than to me. It allowed me the space to convert points of tension to points of growth. It caused me to reinterpret and reassign meaning to interactions and situations.

It started with the most basic and simple of things. Probably the first month of my Gratitude practice consisted of the most elementary answers. My entries looked something like this:

I am grateful for:

• My kids
•My husband
•My car
•My house
•My church

Very generic, non-specific statements.

But, they slowly evolved into more complex rewrites of circumstances.

Let me explain.

In 2021, we sold our home during the height of the real estate market for a great profit. We were intensely analyzing and stressing over what would be the most financially wise decision when it came to buying our next home, building a home, renting a home, buying land, investing, or paying all debt and starting over. When it comes to finances, I tend to over analyze and stress and get anxious. I’m not naturally an anxious person, until it comes to financial decisions and then I want to just over analyze and get caught up in “what ifs”. I don’t do well with having a lot of options in front of me. My tendency would be to allow my mind to run rampant and ultimately freeze in indecision—Just ask my husband how long it takes me to decide what I want to order on date night!

But as I leaned deeper into the practice of Gratitude, I found relief and freedom in assigning gratitude to my “predicament.” My entries began to mirror statements like the following:

I am grateful for:

The multiple opportunities in front of us

I am grateful for:

The opportunity to steward finances well

I am grateful for:

Having so many options in front of us and not have our situation being dictated to us

These perspective shifts began to relieve IMMENSE pressure and tension off of my mind.

In 2022, our family added a 4th kid, a booming business, bought a house, started homeschooling, added additional roles in our ministry–basically, took on a lot!

My tendency is to run full throttle and then fall forward on my face from all the pressure of juggling everything.

But with the practice of gratitude, it allowed me to consume my schedule with purpose rather than letting my schedule consume me.

My gratitude entries began to flow like this:

I am grateful for:

The degree and training to make this school year work without anxiety

I am grateful for:

Having a community to lean on during this transition

I am grateful for:

The opportunity to be stretched and grown in my leadership

I am grateful for:

Timely friendships and mentors to lead the way

None of my circumstances, decisions, or schedule changed, but because my perspective and purpose behind the circumstances, decisions, and schedule changed, the outcome changed.

We cannot control all the circumstances in our life, but we can control how we respond to our circumstances.

Living a life of gratitude overcomes the anxiety and fear that so easily creeps into our minds.

Anxiety breeds death. It’s not always physical death, but it can be death to dreams, death to freedoms, death to purpose.

Gratitude breeds life. Life amidst the hardships. Purpose within the pain.

Gratitude changed the trajectory of how I run my home, build my relationships, interact with strangers, disciple my kids, and minister to my husband.

I personally believe this is why the Apostle Paul, while in chains and in prison, wrote “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”- 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17

It’s impossible to meditate on both fear and gratitude at the same time. Renew your mind daily. Choose gratitude. Look for it in your circumstances. Assign new meaning to the pain. Switch your perspective.