How to Combat Discouragement with a FREE Printable

Gratefulness is a game changer. And I’ve experienced its profound influence especially over the past few weeks.  See, when you have a passion to breathe hope into people and consider it a calling to tell others that their lives are not small…you’re pretty much guaranteed that massive waves of discouragement will try and throw you off course.  Sometimes waves come at you in expected ways and when you’re bracing yourself it’s easier to gain your footing and stand strong through it.  But when waves come out of no where, sneak attacks if you will, you better have a game plan, lest they take you under. We’ve had some real doozies come at us lately…as well as a few little irritants.

It’s honestly funny, and I’m sure I’ll laugh about it…in like 3 or 4 weeks, all of the things that have tried to steal my joy and “thankfulness” recently.  Even as I sat to write this post last night my computer decided to institute a game of “Opposite Day.” I hit save, she thought that meant delete.  I took my ball and went home. Silly computer.

Even as I took the above picture, I stepped in doggy doodie.  Poor studded flat.  That’s just a taste of the behind the scenes glamour kids.  😉  Got to have a sense of humor right?

A few weeks back I told you about a book that I read called “Crash the Chatterbox.”  In the book Steven Furtick says, “The attacks of discouragement will never stop coming, BUT if they’re met with praise at the gate, they won’t find entrance into your heart.”

Maybe today you’re feeling like you’re “King of the Mountain.”  You’re in a fantastic mood, everything is going well, you’re teeth are extra white, in short, it’s easy to be thankful.  Relish in it and smile. But maybe today you’re feeling more like the hairy little troll that resides under the mountain.  You’re feeling unloved and unlovable, discouraged and frustrated and you’re pretty sure your socks don’t match.  You know what the antidote to climbing out from under the mountain is?…Gratefulness.

Gratefulness lifts our perspective from our perceived reality to the true reality, in short, it’s our way of escaping feelings of discontentment because it puts life in perspective. Think of the conscience practice of gratefulness like the stick shifter moving into a new gear on your car.  All of a sudden you have the momentum to take the hill that you didn’t think you could before.

Now I’ll warn you, choosing gratefulness isn’t natural, especially at first.  It can feel silly to say “Thank you God…” when discouragement hits because it’s like training new muscles you’ve never used before.  When the discouraging lies come it’s much easier to wallow than to fight.  However, that’s a pretty miserable existence and a guaranteed way to keep your life small wouldn’t you agree?

Trust me when I say that I know life can be difficult, throw us curve balls, and offer us challenges we don’t think we have the strength to tackle.  But that’s the beautiful thing about the “Gratefulness Factor.” It reminds us of the blessings and the track record of a loving God. And it reminds us at the exact moment when our eyes could be easily drawn to the negative.  Gratefulness infuses us with joy; and if we don’t have joy, we don’t have strength.  Philippians 4:4 in the AMP says to “gladden ourselves in the Lord.” And that my friends is exactly what we’re going to do today.

We’re in this together and I can’t wait to show you what i have to help us out in our endeavor.  My super-awesome-techie-sister helped me create our FIRST EVER PRINTABLE!!!

Are you happy dancing yet?  Just a little something to turn our verbal gratitude into visible gratitude 😉 I’m a visual person.  The type that has WAY too many windows open on her computer at once.  I need to see things in front of me.  So, high-five to all my visual learners out there, let’s do this thing.  You now can declare your thanks out loud AND see what you’re grateful for all “thanks” 😀  to these spiffy little pieces of paper.  We have 3 different versions for your printable pleasure:

Classic Chalkboard (this would be so fun if you have a white sharpie)

Grateful Black

Orange, Because it’s seasonal

Grateful Orange

And Teal…because it’s my favorite color

Grateful Teal

“Gratitude re-interprets the situations in our lives. The attacks of discouragement will never stop coming, BUT if they’re met with praise at the gate, they won’t find entrance into your heart.”

Until next time,

Meg