Gratitude has more power than love. I am all about Love. I love to love others. There is power in love certainly. But Gratitude? That can heal the heart!
Power of Emotions – for good and bad
We have a lot of emotions and feelings. Some are low vibration, like Shame or Anger. Some are high vibration, like Joy and Love.
I love this chart I created which shows the vibration of different emotions.
The power of gratitude is immense.
After Devon was home safe from being kidnapped in Mexico, I felt God impress upon me that I should express gratitude for the men who kidnapped Devon.
It was pretty easy to express:
- Thank you for not physically hurting him.
- Thank you for not being very good at kidnapping. Devon said, “If they had used zip ties instead of bandanas it would have been a lot harder to escape.”
- Thank you for leaving him alone to go off to try the ATM card.
Then I felt I should thank them for kidnapping him.
I paused thinking, “That is ridiculous.”
I paused again and pondered. Am I grateful that this experience happened? Could it have happened without the kidnappers?
Imagine if Devon had lied to us, gone to Mexico had a grand adventure and come home with us being none the wiser for it. Then this would have been a very different learning adventure for Devon, not a positive one. More “adventures” would have been taken with possibly much worse outcomes.
So I did express gratitude that this experience happened. I thanked those men for kidnapping him.
I prayed for my “enemies” and I thanked them for it too.
I will admit this was fairly easy because he is home and he is safe.
Could I do it if the outcome wasn’t so “pretty”? Could I have done it in the thick of the moment? Could I have said a prayer of gratitude if he was missing? I hope I never have to know.
I do know that Gratitude is powerful and healing. I hope that I would choose to give thanks in all things. I can see the power in that. I have felt that power. I know that the vibration of gratitude is much higher than bitterness. It is healing and I love healing!
Can Gratitude actually HEAL?
Elder Uchtdorf’s Grateful in Any Circumstances April 2014 Talk
We can choose to be grateful, no matter what.
This type of gratitude transcends whatever is happening around us. It surpasses disappointment, discouragement, and despair. It blooms just as beautifully in the icy landscape of winter as it does in the pleasant warmth of summer.
When we are grateful to God in our circumstances, we can experience gentle peace in the midst of tribulation. In grief, we can still lift up our hearts in praise. In pain, we can glory in Christ’s Atonement. In the cold of bitter sorrow, we can experience the closeness and warmth of heaven’s embrace.
We sometimes think that being grateful is what we do after our problems are solved, but how terribly shortsighted that is. How much of life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God that there is rain?
Being grateful in times of distress does not mean that we are pleased with our circumstances. It does mean that through the eyes of faith we look beyond our present-day challenges.
This is not a gratitude of the lips but of the soul. It is a gratitude that heals the heart and expands the mind. (emphasis added)