Being Grateful and Thankful Every Day

The following personal essay was submitted to the Asknoah.org website by a pious observer of the 7 Laws of Noah.

I have been thinking about this subject a lot. It’s especially important to think about it when you’re feeling down, which people do from time to time. Or even if you’re not feeling down, sometimes you’re having a really challenging day. The objective is being grateful and thankful for everything G-d has given you.

At that moment when I begin contemplating the blessings I have, I usually start thinking of many physical things. But then I remember the main fact that G-d returned my soul to me this morning, so I’m alive today. Then my mind turns to my spiritual blessings, which include that I’m able to learn Torah properly as a Noahide. (I’m referring to the Hebrew Bible / Tanach with its straight forward / peshat explanations, and the great amount of teachings related to the Noahide Code.) It also includes that I’m able to pray to G-d with my own words and verses from Tanach.

Keeping a personal notebook

I then write these things down in a notebook, do some editing, and do a little tweaking. At that point, I notice that I’ve been composing my personal prayer to G-d. I start seeing all the positive things and all the blessings. I realize how every circumstance had or surely will have a positive outcome of some sort. Often I realize that something which happened a few days before seemed negative, but it turned out to be positive.

With this contemplation, my mind starts to wander, thinking and meditating on G-d’s individual Divine Providence, how everything is done by His will, and how everything really does happen for the best. I see clearly that the Al-mighty has a direct hand in all of my day-to-day activities.

After doing this for several days, or even on the first day, I feel much better and extremely thankful and grateful for everything in my life. This exercise has become something I do every day as part of my prayers.

I hope that my briefly sharing these personal thoughts and experiences will be helpful to you if you’re having a rough time in life, or if you’re feeling down in general. Just remember that you are not alone, especially if you’re blessed to have family and friends, and most importantly you always have G-d!