Gratitude brings joy, not the other way round. No matter your circumstances, you can be joyful.
My husband went on a mission trip to Mexico many years ago. The group were working with local people to do whatever work they wanted or needed. They came to know about an elderly man who lived in a shallow hole covered by a tarp. His refrigerator was a bucket of water where he suspended anything that needed to stay cool in the desert heat. The only toilet he had as a stick to dig a depression in the ground. They asked if they could build him a more permanent shelter. He told them he was so old, he really didn't need anything more. If they wanted to help though, he would ask they kill some of the scorpions in the land around his shelter so relieving himself wasn't quite so uncomfortable. The group took shovels and standing shoulder to shoulder walked across his plot. In about 50 feet they killed at least 100 scorpions.
As far as he could figure he was about 103 years old. He spent his days begging. He couldn't walk very well, so had cobbled together a tricycle he could ride into town. He would spend most of the day begging, then take what he had received and buy food. He would then deliver it to the less fortunate people in his community.
This from a man who lived in a shallow hole covered by a tarp. My husband said he was one of the most joyful people they met on that trip.
I've designed a gratitude journal. The first two pages give suggestions about how you might use it, the rest of the pages (one for each week) have quotes about gratitude I liked. The image in the background is a path through a forest. Being grateful is a journey for me.
If you are interested you can download a copy and use it. It is a PDF file, and you can type your thoughts and save it to your computer.
