Gratitude

Today my priest talked about the link between gratitude and happiness. Later today I found similar sentiments at Catholic.org.

This year I have a lot to be grateful for. On the top of my gratitude list (not counting God, of course) is the people in my life. Some are family and friends; some are people who don't really know me, but have been in some aspect of my life and have made a difference.

I am most grateful, though, for the ability to attend Mass each day. I started doing this during Lent. At first I was going to go one weekday per week, but then I remembered I had a similar plan in 2007. It didn't work because I kept forgetting to go. I knew that to make it a habit, I'd have to go every day.

I didn't stop after Lent. Mass is now an essential part of my life. The best part is that it's changed me. I have so much to improve in so many areas of my life, yet life is different now.

It's too difficult tonight to detail all the changes. If you've read other writings of mine you know I have had struggles with disbelief, and that is still a part of my life. Yet even with this, there have been numerous blessings. One of the side effects of daily Mass has been my ability to see the blessings that have come with my doubts.

Maybe one day I will discuss this more thoroughly. For now, it's late and I'm tired, and if I take much longer to finish this blog, it will no longer be Thanksgiving Day.

I hope that you know the delights of gratitude. For those who don't know the difference daily Mass can make, I encourage you to find out by your own personal experience. It's been life-changing for me.