“Gratitude helps us see what is there instead of what isn’t” — Annette Bridges
Isn’t this quote so true? In the last LDS Women’s Conference President Uchdorf told a story about a young girl who had no desire to spend the summer with her great aunt. As the girl spent time with her aunt she noticed how happy she was and wondered why. The girl didn’t think her aunt had many reasons to be happy. The girl finally asked her aunt why she is so happy, part of her answer was this: “There is enough that doesn’t go right in life, so anyone can work themselves into a puddle of pessimism and a mess of melancholy. But I know people who, even when things don’t work out, focus on the wonders and miracles of life. These folks are the happiest people I know.” After hearing this story I felt deep in my heart that I wanted to be like Great Aunt Rose. I decided to set a goal to focus more on the positive things of life. I know it won’t be easy as I feel that naturally I see negative first. But with small steps I believe it can be done and then hopefully it will permeate into the lives of others.
Here is a fun decoration for this time of year to help focus on the good things of life.
I decided to make something that we could write on but then erase and re-use for years to come. I plan to write all the words that find their way to the board in a journal or a scrapbook at the end of the holiday, then maybe in a few years I will look back and see how things have changed.
I found these wooden letters at a local craft store, they are 12″tall, you can go bigger or smaller as you wish. I sprayed them with black chalk board paint.
Then I bought 4- 1×4’s and cut them to size. Mine ended up being about 80″ tall. You can even do the letters horizontal on the wood, that might change the size a little. I stained them with a dark walnut wood stain. I allowed for plenty of time to dry.
I was able to use the left over 1×4’s on the back to screw the four boards together.
After I got the boards screwed together I laid the board face up, flat on the ground and wood glued the letters on.
There ya go! A fun fall decoration that is also a recorder of joy and happiness.
See the Happy!
