“Happiness is not getting what you want but wanting what you have.”

A thought by Zig Ziglar (2003-01-01) from his book, Zig Ziglar's Life Lifters (p. 27). B&H Publishing. Kindle Edition. (p. 32). B&H Publishing. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Now that is the truth.

Zig quotes Lao-Tzu who says, “There is no calamity greater than lavish desires. There is no greater guilt than discontentment. And there is no greater disaster than greed.”

Zig then goes on to say, “It has been my observation over the years that you will seldom find a happy, ungrateful person. In most cases, ungrateful people expect others to do things for them to make them happy—and this simply is not the way life works.”

He then says, “Thomas Secker expressed it this way: ‘He enjoys much who is thankful for little. A grateful mind is both a great and a happy mind.’”

He goes on, “It has been said that gratitude is the sign of noble souls. John Miller really gives us a tremendous thought when he says, ‘How happy a person is depends upon the depth of his gratitude. You will notice at once that the unhappy person has little gratitude toward life, other people and God.’ The message is clear: If we are thankful for what we do have, we will be happier and healthier. In addition, many of the other things either come our way or lose any significance for us. Hence, happiness is centered around all the wonderful things we do have.”

He then ends this section with, “Express gratitude for what you have. This increases the possibility that eventually you will have more to express gratitude for.”

That is a great way to start this week.

So what are you grateful for today?

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