How Gratitude Can Heal

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. - Melody Beattie

     Living life is risky business. It is a rare person who can make it to adulthood without experiencing some sort of damage.  For some of us, the damage is self-inflicted. But for others, the damage is inflicted by people who are supposed to love us, care for us, protect us. This type of damage is a heinous betrayal, a wounding which comes from people we trust. These are the hurts that are hardest to forgive and forget, for many the wound never heals.

    I have known those carrying around such a terrible hurt. Many times, rather than blame the perpetrator of the crime, they blame themselves. Rather than not being able to forgive the criminal, they can't forgive themselves. Not being able to forgive or forget, the wounding never heals and leads to anger, regret and despair. In this emotional standstill, they become victims yet again. But there is a way to break the cycle, a way out of the emotional morass. Gratitude. 

    There is something about being thankful for the positive things in our life that seems to help us accept the negative events in our lives. Gratitude and appreciation for God's grace seem to make us aware of just how much grace is present in our life and how by accepting that grace, our wounds begin to be healed. By keeping our eyes on the good stuff, we will gradually see the bad stuff recede into the background noise of the past. Where it belongs.