counting our blessings & making them count

Last night on instagram I posted this:

"Even though thanksgiving is over it doesn't mean that your attitude of gratitude has to be! All the crazy sales that try to make us want more can make it easy to forget that we just spent a whole day reflecting on our blessings. How do YOU keep an#attitudeofgratitude all year long?"
 Hopefully you are still feeling that happy, grateful feeling that comes when you reflect on all the hundreds of blessings you are blessed with. But how can we keep that feeling all through the year? Especially when the world tries to turn everything into an opportunity to want and get more.

I've always been a pretty grateful person but I never noticed the part of gratitude I might be missing. I'm not sure how I missed it because everything in the gospel requires this one vital step. James 2:20 says that faith without works (or action) is dead.

Now replace the word faith with gratitude.

Am I simply saying thank you for what I have or am I using my blessings to spread good?

If we thank God for a loving family and then go yell at them all is that showing real gratitude? If we thank God for the Atonement of his Only Begotten, but proceed to mess up over and over without guilt or an attempt to improve does that show we value his sacrifice? What about thanking God for the amazing technology we are blessed with but then wasting our life away on it, using it for evil, or filling our minds with terrible things?

The way we use the blessings we are blessed with is a clear indicator to our Heavenly Father of how thankful we are for His limitless mercy and generosity towards us.

I believe whole heartedly that our Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us and we are placed where we are for a reason. I believe that I (and everyone else) was placed in a situation with certain gifts because our Heavenly Father knew we could use these blessings and goodness for good, to uplift and inspire. I know if we lack things our Heavenly Father knew we would better benefit and grow from that trial.

How will you make your blessings count today? I'm going to try to make sure that I share what I can, keep sharing goodness, and show as much love as I can to others. Comment below what you plan to do.

Happy Weekend!