We humans are known for pursuing, chasing, and wanting more constantly. No sooner do we reach a milestone or receive something, we are onto newer and bigger desires. Having desires and intentions is not bad but being obsessed with them is. In this rush we forget to thank for and cherish what we have.
Imagine if you had a friend who after receiving a gift from you started straight away thinking of the next thing they could receive. How would that make you feel? Would you be encouraged to gift them more and better things? Do you think they are really receiving and enjoying your gift if they are on to the next thing already or thinking of what would have been a better gift they would have liked instead? Wouldn’t you feel that it is almost impossible to make this person happy as they are so driven by just the next thing?
That’s exactly the Universe feels when we do not appreciate and cherish what we have and constantly focus on the next thing that is needed for our happiness or what would have been better to have. Wouldn’t it become impossible for us to be happy if we constantly sought the next thing without taking the time to appreciate and express gratitude for what we already have?
While all this sounds good, many of will say – ‘oh I don’t have this – what do I have to be grateful for?’ The fact remains that regardless of how bad or difficult life gets, we all have something or the other to be grateful for everyday. Even if our life is devoid of possessions and we are alone, we can be grateful for things in nature, being alive, or a strangers smile. So if we feel we do not have anything to be grateful for, it’s our attitude that needs correction and not our circumstances first. Circumstances will all get sorted out once we correct our attitude towards life.
Having an attitude of thankfulness, counting your blessings and appreciating simple pleasures of life is what gratitude is. Being in gratitude is about shifting focus from current problems and lack to what is already good. Research has shown that what we give our energy to – grows! So when we focus on good, good grows.
Starting your day with gratitude for the good in your life, also unleashes your creative energy to bring the best from your day as underlying feeling of gratitude makes you happier, more resilient and leads to better relations and reduced stress.
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Melody Beattie
Everyday make it a practice to find 10-15 minutes and in a state of peace feel the gratitude for the good in your life across all areas of your life and then throughout the day find small opportunities to be thankful.
PS: If you have difficulty finding things to be grateful for, you can Google “gratitude examples” and also don’t forget to be thankful for “Google” itself – isn’t life wonderful 🙂
SUCH a PEPPY read… very well written…simple and straight 🙂