LEAVE THE COOKIES OUT FOR SANTA - PART TWO

In the first part of this blog I discussed how expectancy is a lesson that we can extract from the simple action of children leaving cookies and milk for Santa on Christmas Eve. In this second part, the lesson is one of gratitude. Gratitude is not only a feeling for the kindness or goodness that has been bestowed upon us but it also extends to the hope of better things to come which have yet to be experienced. Children exhibit a pure and innocent display of gratitude when they set aside Santa’s midnight snack long before they have seen anything in the form of a gift. They are so confident of the good that will happen for them that they do not wait for the manifestation of that good and pleasing thing before feeling grateful for it. You should re-read this line again...and again. The tragedy for so many is that, as life brings issues and challenges, it grabs a hold of us and we lose that child-like appreciation and gratitude for things not yet seen. The old adage “you have to see it to believe it” takes a toll on our ability to feel and show gratitude unless we see the manifestation of that good and pleasing thing we hope for. Sadly, this deficiency can infect multiple areas of our lives if allowed to.

The simple emotion of feeling grateful can extend itself from the achievement of a goal that you have not attained yet, to appreciation that the right mate is already on the way, to the becoming debt-free, to passing an exam, and on and on. There are no boundaries or limits to what you can feel extreme gratitude and appreciation for without seeing it come to pass. Simply knowing that it will come to pass is enough to begin displaying gratitude. Ultimately, the more gratitude and appreciation you feel, the more that will be poured into your life to be grateful and appreciative for.