A Thankful Life Thanksliving 2018. Encourage your spouse to live thankful with 365 days of noticing all the blessings the Lord provides in your life. As husband and wife, Rob and I are going to focus on being thankful – in all circumstances during 2018. THANKFUL will become our OneWord365. Thankful Life. Thanksliving.
I’ve been focusing on being thankful or grateful for the last months of the old year. We wrote a post on Lead Like Jesus about our thoughts on the words “thankful” vs “grateful” at Thanksgiving, and then the discussion between us continued. Two particular books left a significant impression and are shaping our ideas…
To practice this art of being thankful THANKSLIVING – we are planning on sending a thank you note (either via snail mail or an e-card) every day of 2018. It’s a real challenge because I (Lori) am not good at things that are on-going. Rob’s going to encourage me. 😉 (That’s what John Kraliks book is about.) As the year progresses I’ll let you know the other things we will be doing for a thankful life THANKSLIVING.
To commemorate our year of living a thankful life THANKSLIVING – here’s a poem that expresses very well what 2018 could look like for Rob and me:
Thankful life. The art of thanksgiving… or thanksliving.
The Art of Thanksgiving
by Wilferd A. Peterson
The art of thanksgiving is thanksliving. It is gratitude in action. It is applying Albert Schweitzer’s philosophy: ‘In gratitude for your own good fortune you must render in return some sacrifice of your life for other life.’
It is thanking God for the gift of life
by living it triumphantly.
It is thanking God for your talents and abilities
by accepting them as obligations to be invested for the common good.
It is thanking God for all that men and women have done for you
by doing things for others.
It is thanking God for opportunities
by accepting them as a challenge to achievement.
It is thanking God for happiness
by striving to make others happy.
It is thanking God for beauty
by helping to make the world more beautiful.
It is thanking God for inspiration
by trying to be an inspiration to others.
It is thanking God for health and strength
by the care and reverence you show your body.
It is thanking God for the creative ideas that enrich life
by adding your own creative contributions to human progress.
It is thanking God for each new day
by living it to the fullest.
It is thanking God
by giving hands, arms, legs, and voice to your thankful spirit.
It is adding to your prayers of thanksgiving acts of thanksliving.
Join us! Thankful Life Thanksliving.
Want to live a thankful life Thanksliving this year – regardless of your circumstances? Janice Kaplan, author of the Gratitude Diaries divided her year into areas in which to be thankful, including her marriage, food, money, things, health and more.
What would you focus on first in your life as husband and wife if you were going to be living a thankful life – THANKSLIVING?
Check out
Hannah’s YEAR of Thanksliving! <- She did little “thank you notes” each day and put them in a container.
OneWord365 Thankful. Have you heard of OneWord365? Summed up, it’s the act of choosing one word to represent your focus for the year ahead. 365 Days. One Word.
For 2018 we’re going to focus on the word “thankful”.
And to this end, I’ve been doing some research on books to read, poems and quotes, along with blog posts and everything else you can find online that’s connected to being thankful. OneWord365 Thankful. I began my focus on being thankful – or gratitude – a few months ago. Rob and I wrote about our discussions about thankfulness on the Lead Like Jesus blog in the post “Thankful or Grateful?“. In that post, we explored the two words: thankful vs grateful. Which would you use, and when?
OneWord365 Thankful – Quote by Wilferd Peterson
During my research today I came across a quote on thankfulness (or gratitude) by a fellow born in 1900, Wilferd Peterson. Here’s the quote:
“When we become more fully aware that our success is due in large measure to the loyalty, helpfulness, and encouragement we have received from others, our desire grows to pass on similar gifts. Gratitude spurs us on to prove ourselves worthy of what others have done for us. The spirit of gratitude is a powerful energizer.”
Wilferd Peterson wrote 10 books that grew from many magazine articles. He credits his wife, Ruth, as being the inspiration for his work saying that while he “wrote about the art of living, she lived it“. He passed into eternity in 1995.
Sounds like a great couple, right? And then, as I was reading about his life, I realized he’s best known for his poem on marriage!
The Art of Marriage by Wilferd A. Peterson
Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens.
A good marriage must be created.
In the art of marriage the little things are the big things…
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say “I love you” at least once a day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is at no time taking the other for granted;
The courtship should not end with the honeymoon, it should continue through all the years.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.
It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.
It is discovering what marriage can be, at its best.
~ by Wilferd Peterson
Marriage and Thankfulness (or Gratitude)
Thankfulness (or Gratitude) will be an ongoing theme for 2018 here on EncourageYourSpouse.com – for many reasons, of which I’ll share a few in each post. But for now, just consider the one line in Wilfred’s poem on marriage:
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
Are words of appreciation and demonstrations of thoughtful gratitude part of your marriage?
For the 2018 OneWord365 Thankful, we will definitely explore those words of appreciation and how to demonstrate thoughtful gratitude in our marriage. And we will have some ideas to share, too!
Celebrate today. Even if it’s not your anniversary today, do you still have something to celebrate… today? 😉 I’m guessing you do!
Every decade has been a very different ride for Rob and me, and so far, our third decade of marriage has had a few more downs than ups. We’re only through a third of the decade, so hopefully, we’ll experience some “ups” in the next years. But even if we don’t, there are always things to celebrate. Always.
Celebrate Today
What could you celebrate today?
Holding hands. That’s a big thing to celebrate. In fact, it feels odd for Rob and me if we’re walking together and do not hold hands! What about you and your spouse? When was the last time you held hands? A few years ago I wrote a post on The Happy Wives Club about the importance of our hands as husband and wife. I told a story about a couple we interviewed who were married for 53 years and what I remember most about them was that they held hands all the time! Now, that’s something to celebrate, huh?
Sharing a conversation about memories. Do not underestimate the value of your history together. You have shared life together with your spouse for years… and those years are a blessing. We spoke with a couple recently who reminisced about an anniversary where they went through every year in their conversation and could highlight at least one good memory from that year. (They’re married 35 years!) That’s a great conversation to have with your spouse. Celebrate your good memories!
Your shared relationships with others. Begin counting the relationships you share – as husband and wife – with others. Make a list. Consider the rich impact those relationships have on your life, and how you also could impact those other important people in your life. Do you have “couple friends”? (We discussed this concept in one of our videos earlier this year from a book review.) Research has shown that the more couple friends you have, the greater sense of satisfaction you have with your life. What about a relationship with your parents, siblings, and children? Adult children are awesome! Perhaps it’s time to reach out to the people in these relationships and celebrate with them!
What you can celebrate today is much more than you believe at first glance.
And even if life isn’t all diamonds and roses, take a moment to consider all the blessings you can celebrate! Then say to your spouse,
“Although our wedding day was many years ago, I’m so thankful we’re still celebrating today!”
This post is the 5th of 10 posts on words to encourage your spouse on your anniversary – or anytime! Encouragement isn’t always about words… but sometimes it can start with words! Here are the other posts – just click on the photo to read the ideas and suggestions.
Encouraging words for your anniversary… Is it always easy to find those encouraging words? Some years you may have many wonderful words to share with your spouse. However, there may be other years when you need a little help. (This is true for Rob and me too!)
Encouraging words for your anniversary!
Some encouraging words for your anniversary… or anytime!What dates do you and your husband or wife celebrate or commemorate? Are there other significant dates you could being celebrating? 😉 Maybe some encouraging words on those days would be good also!.
Over the next 10 days, I’ll be sharing 10 ideas on what you could say (and do) for these significant dates and the days that follow.
#1 – “I promise to love you more every day.”
Our marriage is about more than the days and years. It’s about how much more we love each other every day.
As the days and years go by, we could start to take our love for each other for granted.
What if this year you loved your spouse more every day?
How could you do that? In what ways – every day – could you demonstrate your love is growing? What could you begin doing? Or stop doing?
start and end every day prayingwith each other – for each other
start kissing each other… often! How often do you kiss your husband or wife every day? Make it MORE!
stop looking at your phone, TV, or computer when your spouse is talking to you – give her/him your full attention when you’re talking!
start having a date every week! It doesn’t need to be expensive or be hours and hours! A date could be as simple as walking to the closest convenience store and buying each other a favorite chocolate bar! (You do know your spouse’s favorite treat, right?)
Do you know your spouse’s love language? Could you “speak it” more often so your spouse feels loved?
Go HEREto determine your own love language, and have your spouse do the same. It only takes a few moments and it’s free! Even if you’ve done it before, it’s valuable to do it again. Gary Chapman’s book, The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts is a book Rob and I recommend as the first concept for every couple to use no matter where they are in their relationship journey.
When is your anniversary?
What’s the best gift you’ve ever received from your spouse?
Maybe it was something physical… maybe it wasn’t! Did it correspond to your love language?
Rob left sticky notes with words of affirmation around our little house-on-wheels… that was a wonderful gift for me!
New experiences (the Value of Discovery) have played a huge part in our 33+ years of marriage. Whether they’re small discoveries, like a new restaurant… or big experiences like our time in the RV parked in beautiful places…
…they’ve all created good memories we reminisce about whenever we have a down moment or 2 or 10,080.
Good memories of things you’ve enjoyed together are part of a strong marriage.
What new experiences do you enjoy as a couple?
Some couples enjoy learning. Others love to travel. And some couples are passionate about entertainment, or sports or hiking, museums, shopping, cars, antiquing, and other activities.
What’s your newest discovery, passion or experience as a couple?
Rob and I have good friends who are wine enthusiasts. They take delight in traveling to the west coast of the USA for new experiences with wine-tasting excursions. They’ve shared some of their favorite wines with us, and we’ve loved the experience.
To be candid, we really don’t know what we like in wine… so we’d need to be guided if we were to have a “wine discovery experience” in our future. Are you like us?
Do you need help exploring to know what kind of wine you’d like?
Is someone on your gifting list interested in wine?
Anniversaries or birthdays or Christmas are all reasons we give gifts – what about the gift of a wine experience?Bright Cellars has a unique gift program where they send a certificate (or you can hand deliver it) to someone to try the experience of new wines!
Try the wine quiz!
Click the picture to begin – it’s fun!
If you’re at all like Rob and me, we stand in the store and look at the aisles of wine, wondering how to choose. This idea takes the pain of choosing away, and just leaves you with the fun of unwrapping a new experience!
Maybe your spouse would like a “wine experience”?
Here’s a creative way to share something with your spouse – a new memory to make! And have a special gift for her – or him!
This post is an affiliate post. If you purchase we’d receive a small commission at no cost to you – we appreciate your support.
Rob and I suggest this gift experience with caution. Many people enjoy wine and alcohol in moderation without any adverse impact. However, we are also aware of many who find alcohol a destructive poison for their life and marriage. Use wisdom in considering this idea.
or big experiences like our time in the RV parked in beautiful places…
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