Beech Tree News Network

Recently, my thoughts have been sifting through many things for which I am thankful. Willie Nelson said, “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.” A blessing usually refers to a gift or help. We don’t really earn blessings.

Below, following each letter of T-H-A-N-K-S, I have listed a blessing as well as a couple of quotes.

T - Thank you, Lord, for life. 

Gratitude is the appreciation of things that are not deserved, earned or demanded – those wonderful things that we take for granted. ~Unknown

Give thanks with a grateful heart. ~Anonymous

H – My heart loves the blessing of family and friends.

Find your tribe. Love them hard. ~Unknown

Life is only as good as the people you get to share it with. ~Darren Criss

A – All that is good I count as blessings.

At the end of the day, I am thankful that my blessings are bigger than my problems. ~Anonymous

Blessings are a seed. Nourish and nurture them. ~Unknown

N – No political ads for a while! (They are exhausting.)

Stop. Take a deep breath. Enjoy this moment. ~Unknown

There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy. ~Ralph H Blum

K – Kitchen time, happy time! The holidays are a great excuse to cook some things that I normally don’t.

Joy is the simplest form of gratitude. ~Karl Barth

We are all more blind to what we have than to what we have not. ~Audre Lorde

S – Sleep! Sometimes a chilly day provides additional rest or a napping opportunity. 

When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place. ~C.S. Lewis

The best way to show my gratitude is to accept everything, even my problems, with joy. ~Mother Teresa

William Arthur Ward said, “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” Each year from November through the end of the year, many people reflect on life’s blessings. It’s a good time to acknowledge those gifts – both the big and the small.