Being Grateful for What We Have
Wednesday, August 1st, 2007As I said in my last post, I’ve been reading a lot about prosperity and abundance.
I’ve learned that there are many spiritual and natural laws that God has put into place. There is the law of gravity - what goes up, must come down. There is the law of circulation - the more you give, the more you receive. And there is the law of attraction - like things attract.
We don’t have to acknowledge these laws, believe in these laws, or know how they work for them to work. They just work. Gravity worked on me long before I learned about it in school.
These laws, and many others, exist. And whether I know and understand them or not, they are still working all around me.
One of the laws I’ve been studying is the law of attraction. It’s a very interesting law. What you focus on - where you put your thought energy - attracts those same kinds of things. Why? Because our bodies put out vibrations based on what we are thinking about. Actually, our bodies send out vibrations based on what we are feeling. And what we think about creates what we feel. These vibrations are what use the law of attraction - just like tuning forks. When one tuning fork vibrates, it causes only those other tuning forks of the same frequency to vibrate too.
If I think about good things, I feel good and in return, I vibrate at a higher frequency attracting other good things into my life. If, on the other hand, I think about bad things, I feel bad and vibrate at a lower frequency attracting bad things into my life.
Have you ever had a bad attitude? Did things only get worse? Ever had a good attitude? Did things get even better as the day went on?
Now, don’t get me wrong. Our circumstances may not change. But our reactions to our circumstances will change which causes our good or bad feelings which cause the positive or negative vibrations which attract more of the same into our lives.
Paul says in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” He goes on to say in verse 9, “And the God of peace will be with you.”
So, in my studies of prosperity and abundance, my first lesson is to think about good things - things that make me feel good. Whenever a bad thought, which causes a bad feeling, comes across my mind, I need to change that thought immediately.
Now some folks have told me that we can’t control our thoughts. That may be true, but as someone once told me, “I can’t control whether a bird lands on my head either. But, I can control whether it builds a nest in my hair!”
So, as soon as a bad thought comes into my mind, I need to chase it away so that it doesn’t decide to live there. Even that is sometimes hard. But, one thing I can do is try to surround myself with more things that keep me in better moods. I need to eliminate the surroundings and circumstances in my life that make me feel bad.
Many people think they are stuck with certain situations and circumstances. Are you really? Or is this just a situation or circumstance that you’ve put on yourself? Is this something that you are stuck with because of your limited knowledge or understanding? Is this just an old belief that’s somehow got stuck in your mind? Most of us are really not nearly as stuck as we think we are. But, we are afraid to move out of our comfort zone.
Sometimes we are seemingly stuck with certain situations, but we can STILL make the best of them! If you don’t believe that then study up on Mattie Stepanek who rose above his disabilities to attract good things into his life. And there are many other stories of successful people who came from much grimmer situations and circumstances than mine. It’s all where they put their focus.
Much of it has to do with gratitude. I am reminded of the story in the Bible about the talents. If you haven’t read it lately, go read it now. In this story 3 men were given different amounts of money (talents) - one got 5, one got 2, and one got 1. The first two men put theirs to good use and made a profit. The last man buried his because he was afraid he would lose it - he didn’t feel like he had much. Jesus finished the story by saying, “For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” (Matthew 25:29 NIV)
What is interesting to me in this story is that they ALL received something. They ALL HAD something. It was all in how they THOUGHT about what they had. The first two were grateful for what they had while the third man was afraid to lose it. He was focused on the losing it while the other two were focused on making it grow.
So, are we complaining about what we don’t have? Or thankful for what we do have - no matter how small? Are we focused on not losing what we do have? Or focused on growing what we do have? It’s really not about what or how much we have, but on how grateful we are for what we have right now. It’s about taking what we do have and making that grow.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I certainly feel a whole lot better when I’m being grateful than when I’m worried about losing what I’ve got. And I’m not just talking about money either. I used to worry about losing my kids. They were constantly sick. When I finally started being thankful for the health that my kids had, they quit being sick. I’ve quit worrying about what I might lose and started being thankful for what I DO have. Which makes me feel a lot better. Which causes me to send out good vibes. Which helps me attract more good things into my life. The law of attraction at work.
I’m still not through filling you in on all that I’ve learned about abundance and prosperity and how this has changed my life. There’s much, much more to come. But, I want to give you some time to think about what I’m saying here because when you really let this sink in, I think it will change your life too. ![]()

