Working out the Muscle of Gratitude

Yikes~ I am having such a hard time keeping up right now! Not just on my blog, although I am greatly aware of how much I have let it go lately. I also can't seem to keep up with my reading list, books and blogs, my house work, Lily's school...oh the list goes on! Maybe it's time to re- prioritize!
In the mist of that I just had to share about something!

Gratitude. What does that word bring up in you?
This morning I was listening to this sermon by Rob Bell, and he said something that I just had to throw out there. It is amazing how timely this is in my life. He said, "Gratitude is a muscle that needs to be worked. Especially in the areas that cost us. (Money, marriage, kids, work, anything of worth, importance, or need in your life!) If the muscle of gratitude is not worked in those areas it could cause us to develop a sense of entitlement in our lives!"
I don't know about you, but I certainly do not want to have the attitude that I am entitled to all that God gives me! What pride that would be!
I also know that my physical muscles need to be worked out to become strong and healthy, so why did I assume that my spiritual muscles could just sit limp in my life?

Colossians 4:2 in the message says:
Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude.

What words to follow! God tells us right there to have an attitude of gratitude we must pray and stay alert. Now I don't know about you, but for me to see things in my life to be grateful for I must look for them. Little things are not always abundantly clear, and in hard things it is even more difficult to be thankful. Which is why we must keep our eyes wide open for them!

Tools to help with this would be:

Keeping a Gratitude Journal
I try to do this on a daily basis. It's not easy, but so worth it! You can get a small note book, cheaply almost anywhere!

Join Ann VosKamp's Gratitude Community
This is an amazing place to count your blessings!

Get Generous Wife Tips sent to your email, or follow her blog daily for short ideas on showing your man how thankful you are for him.

What are some ideas you have to keep your attitude full of gratitude?
What other Spiritual Muscles do we have that need to be worked out?

I'll start... Self-Control....or just about any of the fruits of the Spirit!