This Thanksgiving season, I’ve been pondering what these three words printed on fall decor, clothing, and household signs mean together: Grateful, Thankful, Blessed.
At first, I thought they were merely synonymous and interchangeable, redundant to read on ceramic pumpkins, sweatshirts, and wall hangings. They all convey a sense of appreciation, but with further consideration, I can now see how they vary. Here is my take on these manifestations of contentment.
Thankful is a feeling, a sudden recognition of relief and/or satisfaction. Feelings come in a moment, affecting us inside such as when we are happy, sad, thankful, bored, or excited. Feelings are fleeting and fly away like birds who’ve emptied the feeder. After the feeler has felt, and the moment has passed, a new feeling can replace the old one.
But if the feeler keeps feeling and dwells on a pain or perpetuates a pleasure, the feeling can fester or grow into a state of being. Feelings that are habitually harbored or entertained can turn into personality traits. For instance, if someone continues to sprout and protect her happy feathers she may be deemed as a cheerful, optimistic, upbeat bird. Those who stay cloaked in sadness can become morose, pessimistic, or depressed mourning doves; they could benefit by flying around with a flock of cheer. One who constantly masks his true feelings and hides his head in the ground like an ostrich might be shy or insecure.
Someone who continues to sincerely give thanks for things, great and small, becomes grateful, a giving personality trait. Gratefulness grows into gratitude which is an attitude. Being grateful is an active characteristic of someone whose cornucopia overflows and she knows it; this simply means she has more than enough, she is thankfully aware, and shares her plentiful goodness with others.
Gifts of gratitude don’t have to be monetary or charitable gifts, but they can be. Grateful people are generous beyond dollars, offering time, attention, praise, kindness, laughter and prayers. Hence, they show their appreciation for others. The concept of pay it forward can be read on their palms, their open, helping hands.
One who receives another’s gratitude gifts might be thankful or indifferent. Again, those who build a routine of thanks grow into being grateful. Those who fail to thank become entitled. The grateful have accumulated enough thankful feelings to earn this upgraded appreciation reward.
The last term I’ll attempt to define is: blessed. Being blessed is a spiritual gift granted to the saints, sinners, faithful, and non-believers. Every one of us is blessed whether we know it or not. For instance, we’re all blessed with creativity.
In the context of this post, being blessed is to be in a precise moment or position where God’s works are revealed and acknowledged. A gathering around the table for a special meal. Thank you. Those ten deer running past while walking to the path instead of driving to it. Thank you. Looking at old photos with the elderly when they were younger. Thank you. An unexpected card or text when feeling alone or forgotten. Thank you. The burden lifted when seeing that person you finally forgave. Thank you.
Blessings, like feelings, are fleeting and will come and go, so it’s worth counting them. I admit to being impatient and when praying to God, I want to be heard, helped, and healed immediately. While He has all the time in the world, I don’t. I crave a quick drive-thru service of supreme blessings: I’ll take a supersized combo of mercy, with extra joy, a side of humility and a peace pie. Make that two peace pies.
God is not a fast-food worker though. He bestows blessings on me in his infinite time when they serve His purpose for my part in it all, the mystery in which He is both the author and omniscient narrator.
I have faith that this good, all-knowing God has a better plan than I do, so I continue to clasp my hands together to give thanks as much as I can every single day. The more thanks I give, the more daily miracles I find. Blessed revelations just pop out when I least expect them, and like Louis Armstrong, I think to myself what a wonderful world.
Blessings are present tense bridges between this world to the spiritual one where we’ve been invited to spend eternity. Earthly blessings are temporal. Heavenly ones last forever.
Paying attention is the key to finding those double rainbows on a rainy day. I used to rush through time so quickly that I missed meaningful moments, the oridindary ones that become monumental. Slowing down has helped me savor time.
Thankfulness and gratitude lead to a treasure map of blessings, a foretaste of thy kingdom come. You can’t buy blessings, but you can find them with an open mind, positive attitude, and faithful guide. I am thankful to be on this journey in which I hope to be more actively grateful. I am blessed in more ways than I even know. I pray to be more present and aware.
I hope to seed, nurture, and grow a gratitude garden. I’m no gardener and could serve life in green-thumb-prison for all the plants I’ve neglected, dehydrated, and ultimately killed, but I will give it my best shot to sprout some blessed blooms that I can share with you.
Shine on and enjoy the trinity of being grateful, thankful, and blessed.
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