Gratitude

What if we woke up today with only the things that we were thankful for yesterday?

Just a thought. But, what if we really did? I am certain that most of us would find that that we’d probably be left without most things that we hold precious, which would include a lot many people than we could consciously recollect who we come in contact with in our everyday lives, making our days, weeks and months a little easier than we could manage alone! What an irony that we should only realise the worth of things and forget to count them amongst our blessings until they are gone out of our lives!

For my friends in the US, it is thanksgiving time, which reminds me what a beautiful way it is to show our gratitude to all those people who touch our lives every day doing all those things that we take so much for granted! At a time when criticism and intolerance is coming to be a part and parcel of our everyday existence and we seem to assert our opinions and assumptions at the first possible instance to prove our point, in the process of outdoing each other, we often tend to forget that even the smallest act of kindness and appreciation is worth more than the grandest intention to prove our worth to the other person. Gratitude separates privilege from entitlement and provides the chance for us to refuel the soul with kindness and thankfulness.

Often, we tend to forget that appreciation can make a day  – even change a life. It is our willingness to put it into words that is necessary. If  gratitude were to be expressed everyday, imagine what a wonderful place this world would be to live in.

Often, in my busy life, priorities hold the reins to my thoughts and I tend to bury those little moments when I could pay someone a compliment or say a kind word to show that I care. Is it that difficult to be grateful? Surely not.

This month I’m practising to be grateful every day for the little and the not so little blessings in life that has brought so much joy in our lives. I started with a promise to say a silent thank you every morning, as a mark of gratitude:

• for being alive and breathing.
• for being healthy and fit enough to work.
• for having a roof above my shoulders and food on the table.
• for being able to enjoy the comforts of home with a loving family.
• for having a wonderful chance to rejuvenate and discover myself and express my thoughts through my writings.
• for the busy weekdays when I can work undisturbed.
• for the lazy weekends and mornings of lying-in when I can relax.
• for staying positive through the odds and being able to tackle them with positivity.

As the Buddha once said:

“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.”

Linking this post to the Gratitude Circle, and wishing you plenty of positive vibes through the week and the weekend. 🙂