"The Attitude of Gratitude"

I am a very stubborn person. When mind becomes set on something it is very hard for me to change my thought process. Which can be both a good and bad thing. What gets me the most is when I slip into one of those moods where everything just gets to me. My mood quickly slips into a downward spiral and it most of the time ruins my day. When I got a little older I realized that this is not who I want to become.. I didn't want to be the person who let things get to me in a negative way and result in me being bitter. I realized how ungrateful I was. I realized this at a ACT boot camp my mom signed me up for. At this boot camp I was not one of the "brightest" students attending and the teacher of the camp seemed to like to call me out on several things and announce I'd gotten an answer wrong. During our lunch break I was nearly in tears...over come with embarrassment...I was starting to go into a downward spiral when my thoughts were directed to my goal of not becoming "this" person. So I pulled myself together and remembered what one of my young women's teachers taught me, which was to write down everything you are grateful for, no matter how large or how small... So I started my list and before I knew it our 30 minuet lunch was over and I was in one of the best moods I have ever been in. Since that day I have come to understand the power of being grateful. This is one of Satan's greatest tactics on us, he wants us to see the bad in things instead of the good. We should all CHOOSE to see the good in everything, as Christ CHOOSES to see the good in us. Dieter F. Uchtdorf says it perfectly, "Our loving Heavenly Father knows that choosing to develop a spirit of gratitude will bring us true joy and great happiness." I believe that by doing this we will be able to soften our hearts and see things that we didn't before. I challenge us all to stop and take a minuet just once a day and remember how blessed we really are.  :-)