Thankfulness

Thankfulness. It's not a very small word, but its length really doesn't do its meaning justice. The dictionary definition is, "feeling or expressing gratitude; appreciative." Sure, that's just a few words. But they mean so much, and I know that I personally forget what it means to be thankful quite often.
We live in a country where everyone wants instant gratification. No waiting, no work, no cost. We want what we want now and we don't care about anything else. Once we get whatever object we currently have our sights set on, it doesn't seem worth it anymore. Then it's on to the next thing.
It's so easy to forget.
I talk to God frequently. But I realized recently, all I'd been talking to Him about was my problems. My never-ending, extremely frustrating problems. All the ways my life wasn't exactly how I wanted it to be. In the middle of my complaining, it hit me: God's given me so much...and all I can do is ask Him for more, for better?
I then resolved to stop complaining and try to be thankful. And I began to see little, tiny occurances in each day that could only be God working in my life, reminding me that He loves me no matter how whiny I am, that He will always give me another chance at being thankful for all He's done for me.
Yesterday, I wrote an entry on thankfulness in my journal. I just began listing anything and everything I was thankful for, and when I reached the end of the page, I could hardly stop. The more I wrote, the more things I came up with to thank God for. He's given us everything - our lives, our families, every material possession we own - and the least, the very least, we can do is stop and thank Him, and express our gratitude for the great, amazing, wonderful things He has done for us undeserving, wretched sinners.