Why do people become more thankful around the holidays, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas??
It's because they are the holidays where you think of what you're grateful for:) As for me, this makes me realize what I have to be grateful for everyday. Living on your own helps you realize those things easily too.
I think about the gospel I have in my life and the atonement. It makes me realize that I have Heavenly Father on my side every day and that he loves me. He will never give me anything I can't handle with his help. That is where my favorite quote comes in. "For after much tribulation come the blessings." I just love that qote because it goes with an Ensign talk given by Elder Oaks. It's called Love and Law.
It talks about how we need to determine how to act between love and the law. God's laws. It's like the quote, "mercy does not rob justice". We need to equal the two out and base our lives on those principles. So Heavenly Father gives us trials in our life to help us. We have our agency and he won't take that away from us. So if one of your loved ones gets shot by someone drunk, don't blame God for that.
He didn't take the agency away of the guy that shot your loved one, he will just help you through this trial if you ask him, trust in him, and endure to the end to the best of your ability. These trials help us. I have learned his and gained a testimony of this. I love this concept.