Are You Having a FANTASTIC Day?

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! (Otherwise known as the day in which all the desserts get made and the final ingredients get bought :) )

Being as it is Thanksgiving week I wanted to say something about living a life of thankfulness; the application of which has been on my mind the last week or so. When we think about living a life of thankfulness, there are several common ways we immediately think of such as: saying thank you when receiving something, telling others you are thankful for them, and writing a nice card for a friend.

For thankfulness to be a way of life though, it's not something we can turn on and off or something we do every once in a while. We have all heard the saying that the person who is nice to you and rude to the waiter is not a nice person! Agreed? I thought so :)

So how do we make thankfulness a way of life? And how do we express it in such a way that is genuine and real to us?

If I was to get together with you I'm sure we could come up with a list of ways that would all be excellent ideas! But since you're there and I'm here, let me share with you one way I've been thinking of. Ready? Replace your adjectives! That might sound crazy, but please hear me out!

Let me give you an example:

Someone asks you; "How as the play?" "Great!" you respond

Now listen to this: "How was the play?" "Fantastic!" you respond

Which sounds more exciting and appreciative? The second one, right?

Remember, having a thankful mindset is key to having a thankful life! 

The most common responses to questions are: great, good, nice, and fine. When we use those, our lives are reflecting the average, the expected mediocre.
On the other hand, if we respond to questions with adjectives such as: fantastic, incredible, wonderful, and excellent; our lives will reflect the above average, and give people something to think about!

Now, I do want to add here that the goal is to be genuine and heartfelt. If you are having a bad day, don't lie and tell someone it's been an incredible day! And maybe the dinner you just had wasn't the best. It's okay to be honest and truthful in that regard. (I'm assuming though that the good days, and good meals majorly outweigh the bad :))

It's the principle of the matter I'm talking about here. Are you thankful to be alive? Thankful you have eyes to see a play? Ears that hear the orchestra? Feet that take you to the store?
Ultimately, we need to be thankful to the Lord for all He's given to us, and living a life of thankfulness is one way to express to Him our hearts of thankfulness.
  After all, in the Bible we are told to give thanks 73 different times! If we were only told once, it would be enough! But the sheer number shows us just how important it is to God!

So here's my challenge for you this week: try replacing your adjectives and see what happens!

"It was a fantastic performance!"
"I'm having an wonderful day!"
"The view was incredible!"
"This dinner was excellent!"

What are your thoughts? Are you going to try it? If you do, let me know what the results are; I think you'll be surprised ;)

And with that, I am signing off to go put another pie in the oven! Have a fantastic Thanksgiving!!

Love Holly