Why is Gratitude Important?

I have a theory. It's simple really.  I sincerely doubt many would argue with me here, at least not successfully.  Think it over, let me know if you agree.

Thesis:  A positive person can not be so without  an attitude of gratitude.  A grateful person can not be so without being positive.

There are many reasons to be grateful.  Some of those reasons are also responsibilities/commandments.  Others are blessings.  Help me name some of them...

Responsibilities/Commandments

-"Thank the Lord God in all things" (D&C 59:7)

-"Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving" (Psalm 147:7)
-"Let [our] heart be full of thanks unto God." (Alma 37:37)
-"Live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessing which [God] doth bestow upon you." (Alma 34:38)
-"Let us give thanks to [God], for he doth work righteousness forever." (Alma 26:8) "Our degree of gratitude is a measure of our love for Him (Elder Nelson)

Blessings that result from being grateful

President Uchtdorf
-"...makes life sweeter, more joyful, even glorious"
-"...those who set aside the bottle of bitterness and lift instead the goblet of gratitude can find a purifying drink of healing, peace, and understanding"
-"Our loving Heavenly Father knows that choosing to develop a spirit of gratitude will bring us true joy and great happiness."
- "When we are grateful to God in our circumstances, we can experience gentle peace in the midst of tribulation.  In grief, we can still lift up our hearts in praise.  In pain, we can glory in Christ's Atonement.  In the cold of bitter sorrow, we can experience the closeness and warmth of heavens embrace."
-"Being grateful in times of distress does not mean that we are pleased with our circumstances.  It does mean that through the eyes of faith we look beyond our present-day challenges."
-"This is not a gratitude of the lips but of the soul.  It is a gratitude that heals the heart and expands the mind."
-"Gratitude to our Father in Heaven broadens our perception and clears our vision.  It inspires humility and fosters empathy toward our fellowmen and all God's creation.  Gratitude is a catalyst to all Christlike attributes!  A thankful heart is the parent of all virtues."
-"...those 'who [receive] all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto [them], even an hundred fold, yea, more.'" (D&C 78:19)

President Monson
-"...do we remember to give thanks for the blessings we receive?  Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God's love."
-"We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude."
-"My brothers and sisters, to express gratitude is gracious and honorable, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live with gratitude ever in our hearts is to touch heaven."

-We are simply happier
-We're easier to be around, making it easier to make and maintain relationships
-It's easier to keep an eternal perspective
-We end up uplifting those that uplifted us in the first place
-We empower ourselves and those around us
-We become POSITIVE, HAPPY people!

Why in the world would someone choose NOT to be grateful?  I bet I can come up with a few reasons.  Can you?

-"'Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?' (Christ feeding the 4,000) Like many of us, the disciples saw only what was lacking. (Christ took the fish and bread, gave thanks, broke the bread, gave to his disciples and then the disciples to the multitude) Notice that the Savior gave thanks for what they had--and a miracle followed." "He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has."-Greek philosopher Epictetus
-"Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted." -English Author Aldous Huxley
-"Often we feel grateful and intend to express our thanks but forget to do so or just don't get around to it.  Someone has said that 'feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.'"-President Monson
-Someone once said that comparison is the thief of Joy.  I'd venture to say that it's also the thief of gratitude.
-Pride.  When we think we do everything ourselves we are incapable of recognizing all that GOD has done in our lives.
-Envy. We're too busy wanting what other people have to notice all that we already have.
-Exhaustion. We're just so tired...all the time!
-Devastation. It's all we can do to get through the next ten minutes.  Trying to be grateful seems next to impossible.

What's the difference between being thankful for things and having an attitude of gratitude?

-"Perhaps focusing on what we are grateful for is the wrong approach.  It is difficult to develop a spirit of gratitude if our thankfulness is only proportional to the number of blessings we can count. True, it is important to 'count our blessings'--and anyone who has tried this knows there are many--but I don't believe the Lord expects us to be less thankful in times of trial than in times of abundance and ease.  In fact, most of the scriptural references do no speak of gratitude for things but rather suggest and overall spirit of attitude of gratitude...could I suggest that we see gratitude as a disposition, a way of life that stands independent of our current situation? In other words, I'm suggestion that instead of being thankful for things, we focus on being thankful in our circumstances--whatever they may be." President Uchtdorf

Why is being grateful in our circumstances so much harder than being grateful for things?

-Having gratitude for something allows for hind site.  Being grateful in our circumstances requires us to be aware of our blessings at all times, especially during times of trial.
-Being grateful in our circumstances requires that we "trust God and hope for things we may not see but which are true.  By being grateful, we follow the example of our beloved Savior, who said, 'Not my will, but thine be done.'" President Uchtdorf
-"True gratitude is an expression of hope and testimony.  It comes from acknowledging that we do not always understand the trials of life but trusting that one day we will." President Uchtdorf
-We must remember the truths we DO know. (Plan of Happiness, the Atonement, the resurrection)
-Sometimes, most times, the bulk of our most meaningful blessings are not monetary or even physical in nature.  We can not see them.  We can not line them up on the kitchen table and count them.
-The things we are grateful for don't require so much inner contemplation.
-Being grateful in our circumstances requires a resolve to work as hard as it takes to see the silver lining

How can we cultivate this kind of gratitude?

-A prayerful life "The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil.  Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives darkness out of his life. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man!" -President Joseph F. Smith
-"A grateful heart, then, comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His blessings and to those around us for all that they bring into our lives.  This requires conscious effort--at least until we have truly learned and clutivated and attitude of gratitude." President Monson
- It requires hard work. "reach deep enough and look hard enough, we will be able to feel and recognize just how much we have been given." President Monson
-MAKE the CHOICE "We can choose to be like Job...We can choose to be like the Mormon Pioneers...We can choose to be like the Prophet Joseph Smith...we can choose to be grateful NO MATTER WHAT." President Uchtdorf

What things/blessings do we all have to be grateful for (if there is time do the activity now)?

-Physical
-Spiritual
-Gospel
-Family/friends
-1st World Comforts
-Education

Activities:
Elder Nelson's Article
-What blessings can we all focus on daily? (Separate the talk into sections.  Have the girls read the sections but cut off the labels.  Then give the girls the assignment to come up with their own title for each section and summarize the section for the class.--each section points out a blessing)  Physical, Spiritual, Gospel

Personal Experience...wherever it fits...if the Holy Ghost pushes me to share...

Miscarriage.  The blessings IN my circumstances.
It was right after Christmas.  (#1) James had time off from work. (#2) My little sister was on break from school.  We had come home early from visiting family to find out the gender.  James and my two girls accompanied me to my 20 week appointment to find the gender of their soon to be sibling.  I had had bleeding but two ultrasounds (#3-pictures to remember baby by) had shown a healthy baby with nothing to worry about.  Still, the bleeding persisted (#4-it didn't come out of think air, I was slightly prepared) and I was worried.  When the technician got her equipment ready and asked if we were looking for anything in particular I said, "gender...but really just a heart beat.  I've had some complications and I just want to see if he/she is still alive."  I saw the same picture she saw.  My baby didn't look like a baby any more.  I KNEW it. (#5) There was no second guessing, there were no uncertainties.  I cried.  James cried.  My other babies tried to figure it all out.  We cried together (#6) I didn't have to retell or try to explain the bad news to James or my girls, they were there).  We did our best to explain things to our girls on the car ride home.  Then, they did things only THEY could get away with.  They made me laugh (#7). "At least we don't have to fight about names any more!" "The baby died.  Jesus wanted him to die." (Don't worry, we quickly fixed that one-they now say Jesus loves our baby and needed him/her home with Him) Various things that would be horrible coming from the mouths of any other human being.  Somehow it took the edge off.
When we got home I couldn't bear to make any phone calls.  I couldn't meet the answer of "boy or girl!?! with "neither."  I couldn't speak.  I couldn't say it out loud.  Email worked just fine.  Not one family member didn't reach out that day (#8) and many kept reaching out for weeks (#9).
The procedure was the next day.  December 31st.  5:00 AM. I could try to hold off and attempt to have this $4,000 procedure on next year's insurance but it was too risky.  The date held firm.  I needed time to process.  My best friend took my kids that night (#10).  All I needed was to spend time with James, in the quiet of our home.  That same friend patiently told me over text what I could expect the following morning (#11).  She calmed my own fears with the pains of her own experience the year prior.
When I had my head about me, I called my poor little sister.  She didn't ask to be the only family member in the state, but she was.  I told her I needed someone to be with my girls that morning and she came over THAT NIGHT(#12)...with some of my favorite comfort FOOD(#13).  I got up the next morning knowing that my two healthy children were in great hands (#14).  The procedure itself went well.  James was there when I woke up and he made sure I was taken care of (#15).  He and Margaret took care of the kids and I that whole first day.  Margaret stayed (#16)!  I only expected her to be there through the procedure to watch the kids but she stayed ALL DAY LONG.
My ward family treated it as though I had brought home a healthy baby.  They brought me meals. They called.  Left notes.  Gave hugs. Cried with me.  They came over even when I told them not too. They called me, even when they didn't know what to say(#17).  My brother called me every day, I'll never forget that (#18).
When the labs came back, they said they had no clue what happened.  They also didn't know the gender of the baby because he/she had stopped growing properly and they simply couldn't tell (#19).  They also said he/she measure like a 14 or 15 week baby, despite being 20 weeks along (#20).  This is one of the bigger blessing in my eyes because had he/she been bigger I would have had to do a still birth.  I don't think I would have survived that experience.
Surely there are details from this experience I'm forgetting (there were so many friends that sent me chocolate/lotions, texted, emailed, etc. and allowed me to feel that love continually).  But what I will never forget is the love I felt from those around me, both near and far.  Even more, I felt my Savior's love.  There were countless times where the Savior knew I could not do more, so He sent his angels to do it for me. He allowed me the tender mercies I needed to make it through that horrible time.
Tonight, I have counted 20 tender mercies in that experience.  I KNOW there were WAY more.  I know it, because I felt the angels lifting me up from both sides of the veil.  I know it because I am standing here before you today sharing this story.  Without thousands of these tender mercies I would still be lying in my bed wondering what I did wrong and why my baby went home so early.  But alas, I'm a fully functioning human being.  I can now empathize (#21) with other families like I never could before.  I appreciate my girls more than ever (#22).  My youngest is getting attention that she actually really needed (#23) and I'm in a calling I probably couldn't have done without a baby (#24).  I don't know if I'll ever have another baby.  It took me a lot to get pregnant last time.  But now, I know I can do hard things (#25).
The list of things I have to be grateful for as a result of that experience continue to grow.  As I reread this and add to my account, I bet it will grow even further.  The items I've mentioned are simply the things I was able to recognize as it was all unfolding.  But even just recognizing those got me through. They didn't simply help me make lemonade out of lemons.  Those points of gratitude did the impossible.  They made me look at the misery I was in and take it from a pile of brown, dying leaves to a vase full of stunning sunflowers.  Weeds will never be sunflowers.  My miscarriage will never be bright and beautiful.  But with the help of the Lord, and focusing on all the things I had to be grateful for, somehow, miraculously, those weeds appear in the sunshine and look as pretty as sunflowers.  It's hard to explain.  The ache in my heart will always be there.  The tears will always be just below the surface.  Yet, instead of remember the weeds, I remember the sunflowers.  The people that affected me like never before.  The realization the the Savior was concerned about ME and MY welfare.  What it felt like to be on the receiving end of service.  Watching my family come together and both mourn and serve at the same time.  It was extraordinary.Yes, I see sunflowers. In December and January, I think I saw wild sunflowers blooming on the side of the road.  By February and March, I could see real ones...sitting on my counter

"Being grateful in time of distress does NOT mean that we are pleased with our circumstances.  It does mean that through the eyes of faith we look beyond our present-day challenges." -President Uchtdorf  

(I'm bringing weeds, wild sunflowers, and real sun flowers and telling them that they get to choose what they see, what attitude they possess)

These are the talks I'm pulling from:
Grateful in Any Circumstance, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
The Divine Gift of Gratitude, President Thomas S. Monson