The Sweet Side-Effect of Gratitude

I enjoy looking at home design images: Instagram, Pinterest even blogs.  HGTV gives me lots of before and after "fixers" to get inspired and my ideas just grow and grow.  It's easy for me to become dissatisfied and only see my own space as a giant project that is currently "less-than."

Like many of us during the Thanksgiving season, I am more intentional about practicing gratitude.  What I'm learning is that the side-effect of gratitude is contentment.  Contentment is such a rarity in our culture that feeds us the desire for more and fuels materialism. Being satisfied is a quality that we have to strive for because it will not come naturally.

"the state of being happy and satisfied : the state of being content." 

noun. con·​tent·​ment | \ kən-ˈtent-mənt \ (merriam-webster's)

Satisfied. Content. Joy.  These are the qualities which are the fruit of Gratitude.

The second effect I see is in my family.  They pickup on the thankfulness, too, and learn to take note of the good things we already enjoy more than the commercialism that ramps up this time of year.  I see more laughter and less hustle so we can simply enjoy ourselves with contentment in the moment.

Oftentimes, we have to turn from what we wish for and accept what we have.  Learning to be satisfied is a discipline that we can practice with intention.  The action and emphasis is on the turning.  We have power to decide what we consume via social media and to turn from the never-ending buffet of more.

Do you find contentment in the gifts you've already been given?  How can we model that for our little ones, teens and even grown children?