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Inspiration

Give thanks for the lumps, too

hen Thanksgiving rolls around each year, ent stages of gratitude are explained: the first is gratitude
millions of people across the United States for the gifts received from God, as we would be grateful
gather to enjoy a yummy feast and dedicate for any gift; a higher state is attained when one becomes
W time to appreciating what they're thankful grateful for not receiving gifts or for being delayed in hav-
for. At times like this, it's rare for someone to appreciate a ing a hope fulfilled. In this state one sees the blessings that
difficult or painful experience. are veiled in affliction."

After all, thankfulness and the sweet things in life fit to- Contemporary culture is replete with examples of this,
gether like warm rolls and butter. It seems counterintui- too. For instance, self-help author Melodie Beattie wrote,
tive to give thanks for the lumps life dumps in our gravy. "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we
Indeed, the first time many of us run across the notion have into enough, and more. It turns denial into accep-
that to make the most of your time on earth it's not just tance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a
useful, but imperative to appreciate all of your experienc- meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a
es—the savory, the bland and the bitter—it doesn't seem friend."
palatable. But it's similar to realizing you can learn from
your mistakes and hardships—an idea I expect most of us Find the good
can agree on. The saying that when life hands you lemons, make lemon-
ade comes to mind. Did you know the genesis for this pop-
In his remarks upon retiring from the San Francisco Gi- ular saying was a 1915 obituary penned by writer Elbert
ants this month, Buster Posey mentioned how the hard Hubbard for dwarf actor Marshall Pinkney Wilder? "His
times aren't fun to experience, but when you look back, was a sound mind in an unsound body," Hubbard wrote.
they're times from which you've learned the most. Poised "He proved the eternal paradox of things. He cashed in on
at the microphone that day, he appeared to be truly grate- his disabilities. He picked up the lemons that Fate had sent
ful for the challenging times peppered with the good. him and started a lemonade-stand."

An enduring concept
So I hope abundance and good times are in store for you
But that idea isn't new. Saint Paul advised early Christians this year, but if something goes sour, I hope you can un-
to always give thanks for everything—no matter the cir- cover hidden blessings in that, too.
cumstances. In the Jewish tradition, thankfulness for ev-
erything is also considered fitting because all things come
from God, whom they praise in prayers when receiving
both good and bad news.

And an article on beliefnet noted that Sufism devotes en-
tire book chapters to developing gratitude, stating, "Differ- Kate Gillespie, President and CEO

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