DetachmentCorner

In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.

~ Brother David Steindl-Rast

Gracias! Grazie! Xièxie! Merci! Shukriyaa! Arigato! Thank you!

Part of my conversation with my friend the other day when we talked about planning for the future, is about being grateful. Gratefulness is something that I really aspire to practice not only in a day-to-day basis but also moment-to-moment. Sometimes, I stumble and catch myself in a rather complaining mode, but once I become aware of that, I bounce back to being thankful again.

There are times when I say my gratitude prayer, and I realize there are thousands, if not millions of things in my life that I am so grateful for. Most of the time, I sit for about 15 to 20 minutes to just say ‘thank you’, and as always, I end up in tears of joy.

Going back to what my friend told me; during our conversation, he made me do an exercise. Here’s what we did:

He told me to count all the RED-colored things that I can see from where I was sitting.

I remember I saw a picture frame with red color, a red paper bag, red roses, a human figurine wearing red clothes and a red-colored box. So I counted them and told him that there are 6 stuffs around me with the color red in them.

Then he told me to close my eyes. While my eyes were closed he asked me to recall all the purple-colored things around me, if I noticed any. Of course, I told him I don’t remember, because I wasn’t looking for purple when I searched. He then asked me to open my eyes. He now told me to see if there are any purple-colored things around me. I saw a little bowl, plastic bag, a rabbit stuffed toy and a picture frame that are colored purple.

I suddenly laughed because I kind of get what he’s trying to tell me. He told me that in life, sometimes we are so focused on searching after a specific thing and we often overlook the other things that deserve our attention.

“Learn to be thankful for everything in your life, not only the things you like, but also the things that you think don’t have value to you right now; coz someday, you’ll realize how valuable they really are.”

Now let us talk about the reasons why having the attitude of gratitude is such a must for our daily living:

Reason #1 – Gratitude reminds us all the positive things in our life. When you stop and think about the good things that are happening in your life, including the people that mean a lot to you, or maybe even that stranger who gave you a smile today in the subway; when you stop and think about these, it helps you feel great inside. Do it often.

Reason #2 – You will realize that bad things aren’t really as bad as they seem. Maybe you are having a bad day, or your boss wasn’t in a good mood, or you just got stuck on traffic which made your boss even mad. What to do? Be grateful for all these things. I know it seems absurd at first – you are angry and frustrated, why be thankful? But try to be thankful for the challenges you encounter, and know that because of these challenges, life isn’t just plain boring. Be thankful for the lessons you learn from your challenges. Be thankful that these circumstances no matter how difficult they may seem (for a moment), as they help make you become stronger – and wiser.

Reason #3 – You will be reminded of what’s important in life. When we are grateful for our health, for our loved ones, for our nice job, you will forget about complaining about the little things. You will forget about the stress in paying out your bills when you are thankful there is a roof over your head. You will realize how blessed you are in many ways.

Reason #4 – Gratefulness reminds you to say ‘thank you’. I like people who always say ‘thank you’. I, myself say thank you A LOT. When I do something nice to someone and I get a sincere thank you in return, it brings such joy inside me, and I pay that forward by saying thank you to others. Don’t be that person who seldom say thank you.

Reason #5, #6, #7…infinity – you search them out. Find more ways and more reasons to be thankful. Adopt the Attitude of Gratitude. And remember, when you are grateful, the Universe brings you more of the things you will be grateful for.

Have a great day, my friends! Peace-Love-Blessings.

~Thank You!~