Episode 239: GRATITUDE AND hOPE
Episode 239: GRATITUDE AND hOPE
Embedded Files
gRATITUDE AND hOPE - episode 239
gRATITUDE AND hOPE - episode 239
“Hope takes gratitude and turns it into resilience and action.” I love talking about gratitude! In this episode I share the connection between hope and gratitude. Hope is an attribute of Christ that I am learning to incorporate and realized how gratitude helps with a sense of hope. I share some stories of people without hope and some challenging counting blessings to get hope. I also share others' thoughts and quotes how gratitude can lead us to become more hopeful. I also bring back one of the talks by Bonnie D. Parkin that help start this my gratitude journal over 5 years ago. Happy Thanksgiving friends! Here is to gratitude and hope!
Show Notes: Hi Friends! I hope you enjoyed listening to this episode. Below are all the references.
Key Topics
Key Topics
Why gratitude has become a foundational daily practice in my life
How gratitude helps restore hope during discouraging or overwhelming moments
Hope as an attribute of Jesus Christ
President Moffitt’s invitation to study Christlike attributes
My experience choosing hope as a focus attribute
Visiting an elderly widow and noticing the absence — and beginnings — of hope
How small expressions of gratitude can reignite hope
Scriptural definitions of hope from Preach My Gospel
The emotional and spiritual benefits of daily gratitude
Preparing for the Thanksgiving and Christmas season with intention
Quote From the Episode
Quote From the Episode
“Gratitude is the foundation for hope. Hope takes gratitude and turns it into resilience and action.”
How Gratitude Has Shaped My Hope
How Gratitude Has Shaped My Hope
Writing a daily gratitude journal for over five years
Noticing increased optimism and less despair over time
Using gratitude to reset my mindset when life feels heavy
Finding hope in both small moments and significant trials
Recognizing that gratitude grounds me in the present while hope points me toward the future
Stories & Examples Shared
Stories & Examples Shared
Meeting actors from The Chosen and witnessing interfaith collaboration
Visiting an 80-year-old widow struggling with discouragement
Observing how small blessings (like regular missionary visits) can spark renewed hope
A youth story about learning gratitude during a long, exhausting day
Reflecting on the road to Emmaus and how Christ restored hope through gratitude
Research, Scriptures & Sources Mentioned
Research, Scriptures & Sources Mentioned
IgnatianSpirituality.com — “The Connection Between Hope and Gratitude”
Teachings from President David O. McKay (footnote 9 from Gratitude: A Path to Happiness)
A Spoonful of Gratitude - For the Strength of Youth Magazine Oct. 2015
Transcript
Transcript
I am Camille Johnson, and this is Finding the Floor.
Stories and reflections of midlife motherhood, family, and finding meaning in it all.
Join me as I share a little piece of my life and figure out what I want to be when I grow up.
Hey everyone, welcome to Finding the Floor.
And today we're going to talk about gratitude.
And you guys know, if you've been with me for a while, how much I love gratitude.
If you haven't been with me or if this is new, then this is even better.
I'm going to talk a little bit how we relate gratitude and hope.
And I just think that is pretty awesome.
But first I have to tell you about this weekend.
I was able to meet three actors from The Chosen.
They were brought in by this interfaith coalition.
And we had Shaan Sharma, who plays Shmuel, and George H.
Xanthis, who plays John the Apostle, and Sophia Blum,
And I had a couple really like intimate settings with them and it was so fun.
I thought it was going to be a bigger event.
And it was just like a small group of people around a big round table.
And it was just so fun to talk to them and get to know them a little bit.
And they're good people trying to do such good.
I think I might talk a little bit more about the experience.
They're now my best friends, basically.
But they're pretty awesome and they had great messages and fun people.
Okay, so we have Thanksgiving coming up next week.
how helpful gratitude really is.
And I, for the past a little over five years now, have written a gratitude journal.
So about the day before, I write it in the morning, and then I get into my scripture study.
And it's just become this habit.
It's just in, I have this journal that kind of has like everything in it.
My gratitude, my scripture study, thoughts that I've been having.
So it's kind of this all one encompassing journal.
So it's not just simply for gratitude, but that is where I write it down.
And I was noticing that it helps me become more or continue to become
And that is a great way to kind of go throughout your day.
us to pick a attribute of Jesus Christ.
and he suggested that we try picking an attribute of Jesus Christ.
And I had never really thought about hope as like an attribute.
I just thought that hope was like a way of thinking.
And we can always be hopeful because of Jesus Christ, which is just awesome.
And I told them that I was choosing hope and that I was like intrigued by this idea.
And so hope is going to be kind of
intertwined in my next few podcasts as I'm kind of like learning to incorporate and study.
this past Sunday of how gratitude has really helped me.
And this particular woman we visited was an 80-year-old widow.
And her husband had passed away, I think it was almost over 20 years ago, it seemed like.
And so he died, I would say maybe in his 60s or late 50s, which was probably pretty unexpected.
And she had been planning to go to the temple and get sealed to him.
I mean, my first thought was like, oh, well, it's not a problem.
Like, you just set a new appointment.
Like, it's really not a problem.
but she just could not get there.
And I was just noticing how she didn't have very much hope.
that that's been making so much difference.
And so I see a little, little ray of hope in her life.
It is manifest in your confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patience.
It is believing and expecting that something will occur.
Hope helps you conquer discouragement.
And I just love that it manifests itself in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patience.
All things working together for your good.
Sometimes I'll miss days in the weekend because my kind of schedule gets messed up a little bit.
But then I either spend Sunday night catching up, which is actually really fun.
I like to sometimes catch up or Monday morning if I haven't had time on Sunday night.
the little things and the big things.
And the title really was The Connection Between Hope and Gratitude.
So this is the quote from the article.
Gratitude is the foundation for hope.
It changes our focus from lacking to gift, as we see in the Gospel of Luke.
how despairing the disciples were.
On the road to Emmaus, this is just after Christ has been crucified and before he had shown himself.
Obviously, he shows himself here, but they didn't know that quite yet.
And Christ was just trying to help them have hope.
That's why it is just so important.
And that they were so grateful for him, like,
And that gratitude helps you be more hopeful.
And I love the next sentence this author shares about the story of the men on the road to Emmaus.
and turns it into resilience and action.
Oh, I just love that statement.
Hope takes gratitude and turns it into resilience and action.
And Jesus Christ being crucified
was not what they thought would happen.
Like they thought he'd be able to be all-powerful and not have that happen.
So that these disciples were then willing to like,
go forward and testify of this wonderful message and of Christ's resurrection.
So I found this really great story from For the Strength of Youth magazine.
So this youth shares a story of how she woke up and she knew she had a really long day ahead of her.
And it was super early because she had early morning seminary and it was cold outside.
And she was just feeling super grumpy about it.
And she sat down to eat her cereal and she said she saw this little plaque in her kitchen that
she said her mom had maybe gotten from a friend that said, blessings brighten when you count them.
And she's saying, that is not going to help me brighten my mood if I acknowledge my blessings.
And she's trying to look around to see and find ways to prove this plaque wrong, arguing with it.
And then that led to another thought of, and without a bowl, and without milk.
And then she began to notice the full pantry that she had in her house, and that she had
a warm house despite it being cold outside.
And so as she simply started noticing those blessings, she was able to feel a little bit better.
Her mood was more hopeful for the day, despite it being a long day.
And my teenager right now has these super long days sometimes.
And so sometimes doesn't get home till 8 or 9 at night.
Hope gives us an anticipation of what is possible in the future.
And then I also love this really great thought connected to gratitude and hope from
Choosing Hope and Gratitude by Pete Volkman.
You cannot have hope without having some form of gratitude in your life.
You cannot have gratitude without acknowledging some form of hope.
Gratitude is being thankful for what we have in our lives and what we do not have in our lives.
That gratitude is a recovery strength that can spark hope and provide us with direction.
And we can be thankful for things that we have or things that we do not have actually.
So I just love this connection between practicing gratitude
that is going to engender more hope in your life.
It says, a daily review of three things you have gratitude for in the last 24 hours is a great
way to water the seeds of hope.
you can practice gratitude, like practicing just three things every day.
That you can water the seeds of hope.
not searching for something you don't believe you have.
gratitude, which was episode 25 years ago, which helped me begin my gratitude journal.
And I just noticed something new
And all of this still rings true.
I think she gave it back in 2007.
She continues and quotes this past president of the church.
McKay observed, we find in the bitter chill of adversity
the real test of our gratitude, which goes beneath the surface of life, whether sad or joyous.
And I just find that hope leads to happiness when we choose to be grateful for all things.
This may not mean that like things will all turn out
as we think it should turn out.
That can be so hard, especially when you're going
There were so many good things to read about gratitude, you guys.
It was really a fun thing to put together this podcast.
There's a lot of really good talks out there, just how important it is.
At the time, we were in the middle of isolation with COVID.
And my mom was, at the time, I didn't know exactly, but she was like a month away from passing away.
And so I was really struggling because I didn't know when to go out and visit her.
And I was sad that I couldn't be there all the time.
And this wonderful idea of maybe I should practice some gratitude and being able to search
And what a great thing to continue to be because hope helps us to be more optimistic.
And I think when you think about optimism, you think you're not living in reality.
But I think optimism is actually choosing to be hopeful despite what reality might look like.
That there are things to look forward to in the future and to not give up.
And that's such an important thing.
So remember that I just love that quote about hope takes gratitude and turns it into resilience.
by even getting into the world of celebrating the birth of Christ.
And that is one reason we have hope is because Christ came and did what he did.
What a great way to then engender hope
and resilience and action to do more and to help others.
Okay, you guys, there won't be a podcast next week, but I'll be back the following week.
Okay, you guys, I hope you have an awesome week and
Thanks for listening, and I'll talk to you next time.
I hope you enjoyed today's episode.
Special thanks to Seth Johnson for creating and performing the theme music.
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