Gratitude Mapping: A Way to Compound Thankfulness

It is an excellent tradition that a day itself is dedicated to giving thanks. I love it and I see a whole lot of people celebrating it even more than many other popular holidays. Over the years I have become an admirer of thankfulness and its usefulness not only in spiritual areas but also as a mechanism to promote happiness and health.

Our tendency in any situation is to note and grapple with negative things happening around us. Many say it is part of our wiring to survive. But it takes intention and thoughtfulness to be appreciative. In the fast-paced competitive environment we live, it is not easy to slow down and count all the wonderful things happening in life. Hope Thanksgiving Day is an inspiration to be thankful not only on this day but also for developing an ongoing practice of being grateful.

I want to provide you with a tool to build your gratitude inventory – Gratitude Mapping.

The MSG translation puts Psalm 34 :8 as this: Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see – how good God is.

Taste and see the goodness and wonderful things about God. That is the best application of Gratitude mapping. As we begin to savor God’s goodness we will spring to an ocean of beautiful things about the Lord we could be thankful for. The more you look the more you see and by practice you get better at looking and seeing the goodness of God.

To help understand that think of a piece of bread you are about to eat and give thanks for. You give thanks for it not only because you have the money to buy it and it is available to purchase in a store isle near to your home and you have the means to get it to your home. Much beyond our regular thinking or common acknowledgment, there is a whole lot of natural and supernatural things beyond our control for just a piece of bread to be there. Think about the soil where the grain is grown; the moisture and the nutrients it receives for growth; the appropriate climate conditions for its growth; the array of biochemical processes inside and outside the plant to be fruitful; support mechanisms involved in harvesting, processing, transportation, distribution, and production. How about that you are alive now to taste the bread? How about it that the body is able to convert the bread to nutrients to sustain physical growth and existence? Now you have limitless potential to be thankful for a piece of bread we eat regularly. You could use the same concept to compound your thankfulness for any other things and people in your life. It is also a way to proactively contrast our tendency to negativities and worries.

Now think of Psalm 34:8 again. If we could be thankful for a physical substance like bread in so many ways how much should be for the goodness of the eternal & divine bread? As we slow down and meditate upon the Lord we will see His beauty filling our hearts in all His majestic ways. Of course, we will never be able to fully understand all the wonderful things of the Lord. That by itself is a beautiful thing because His love and wisdom are never-ending. So we could bless His name forever. In him, we will never be unsatisfied.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Reflection Excercise

What does your gratitude practice look like?

Use gratitude mapping to develop a meditative practice of the Lord’s goodness.

Use gratitude mapping as a tool to compound your thankfulness for any favorite people or things in your life.

• Do you thank God for others?
• Be intentional with the Word and your walk with the Lord
• The King who satisfies is born
• Finding Purpose in Life Through God’s Word
• Check rudeness that invade Love