Is Gratitude a Mood?

I woke up in a good mood.  I actually usually wake up in a good mood until someone ruins it and apparently that has not yet happened.  But I woke up and realized that I woke up feeling grateful.

I am grateful especially for my job -- for the people that I work with and how smart and effective and gifted they are.  Sometimes our giftednesses (hey -- it's my blog I can make up words) clash a bit and we have to work hard to overcome the differences, but that is part of the adventure of it all.

I woke up grateful for a HUGE mission that God has given me personally and professionally.  I have grown significantly and learned a ton through the ups and the downs of this amazing journey that He has called Bart and I to.  An awesome combination of pastoral ministry, adoptive and foster parenting, and leadership in an organization that impacts so many children and families.

I woke up grateful for some of the things on my to-do list today because they are projects that I think are fun.   Some days I have things to do that don't seem fun, but today my list is exciting and enjoyable.

But I realized in the midst of my good mood fueled by gratitude or my gratitude fueled by my good mood, that gratitude is not a mood but a choice.  And, just like hope, gratitude is most necessary when we have no reason for it and we don't feel like we have things to be grateful for.

In this article, research has shown that gratitude is linked to happiness, health and stronger relationships.   All those are things we want, but gratitude, in the midst of the moods and seasons of life where we aren't feeling it, is the key.

It's #ThankfulThursday.  What do you have to be thankful for?