"We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Someone has said that 'gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.' (Cicero, in A New Dictionary of Quotations on Historical Principles, sel. H. L. Mencken (1942), 491.)"
- President Thomas S. Monson ("The Divine Gift of Gratitude" October 2010 General Conference)
It can be easy to see what is in front of us in the world and to think negatively, but lately as I have been more grateful for the things that God has given and is giving me, I have a greater desire and motivation to obey Him and do what He would have me do. When this happens He blesses me even more, which gives another opportunity for gratitude, and the pattern spirals upward. Gratitude is evidence of humility and faith, and we know what the Lord can do with us when we have those two elements (Ether 12:27).
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