An attitude of gratitude means making it a habit to express thankfulness and appreciation in all parts of your life, on a regular basis, for both the big and small things alike. And in hindsight; If you concentrate on what you have, you’ll always have more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you’ll never have enough.
Thanksgiving on the other hand, means showing gratitude to God for what he has done,what he is doing and what he is yet to do.
Yes, you can be thankful in advance, it all depends on your level of faith.
Even the bible recognizes the need to express gratitude
in Ps. 100: 4-5
"Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”
Sometimes we for get to express gratitude even to our maker. Maybe due to forgetfulness, or constant life demands and struggles. Worries give more room to defeat than to a heart of thanks. Sometimes it really is a sacrifice to offer praise and thanks. We may not feel like it. We’re struggling. We're weary. Or maybe, we feel like He let us down. We think God seems distant, like he's far away, or doesn't really care about what's troubling us. But remember one thing, the teacher is always quiet during the test. in Phil 4 :6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
HOW TO CULTIVATE A HEART OF GRATITUDE
A grateful heart can be gotten from two easy steps:
1. Always say thank you for every good thing someone does to you.
Its one thing to say thank you, it is another for your body language to replicate that. Always be grateful, it opens the doors for more blessings
2. Be contempt-ed with what you have.
There is no crime in wanting to acquire more or achieve more. But always be happy with what you have, stop complaining that what you have is not enough because there are definitely people who have more and who have less.
There is a slogan in my church, that when you thank God for his finger,he will show you his hand. We all have at least one thing to be thankful for, at least you can read this post, that has to count for something because the dead can not read. So the question is what are you thankful for?
AS FOR ME, I am thankful for my life, the life of my family members, my friends, Steemit, and #steemchurch for creating the platform to spread the gospel of Christ, big thanks to @sirknight, the genius mind behind this initiative as well as his apostles @tikhub and @owoblow-steemit who happens to be my senior colleagues and leaders in college. God bless you guys!