“Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.”
Being grateful is something that most of us have forgotten.
- Being grateful that we have a shelter over our head
- Being grateful that we have food to eat and water to drink
- Being grateful for all the experiences in our lives that made us wiser
- Being grateful for having friends and family who love us, take care of us and fuck us up when there is a need to
- Being grateful for the random strangers who have helped us
- Being grateful for the assholic humans we met as they have taught us something.
How many of us do really take the time to be grateful for what we have in our life. We are so busy pursuing what we want in life that we forget to take out time to embrace the present and be thankful for the smallest thing we experience in the present. We work long hours, we do not take care of the body, we dehydrate ourselves, we do not sleep well, all of these because we are working hard for a better future. Did you stopped
- to thank the body for enduring so much?
- to thank the people who cooked and packed your breakfast for you while you are busy getting ready and rushing off to work?
- to thank those who stay up for you till you reach home so that they can serve you dinner and spend a little time with you?
- to thank the random strangers who stop the bus for you when they saw you running?
- to thank the universe for sending the right kind of people in your way at the right time?
- to thank the universe for teaching you lessons that were so important in life?
- to thank yourself for the hard work and effort?
- and enjoy the process of whatever you are doing?
- to thank your love ones for understanding you as you have missed all the family occasions?
- to thank your love ones (especially your children, if you have any) who understand that you can’t give them time and love because you are busy working?
We need to stop and be grateful for the smallest thing anyone does. You would be starving or spending money eating unhealthy food outside without that love one of yours who wakes up to prepare your breakfast for you. Without that stranger who stopped that bus for you, you would be damn late for your work. Stop everything for a moment and look how far you have came in your life and be grateful. Pursue whatever you want to in life but be grateful, not at the end of the goal but while achieving that goal. While getting what you want in life, remember to be grateful for the people and the smallest things you have experienced during that journey. Thank those people who have helped you in any smallest way.
Anyone can be grateful after getting whatever they want, the challenge is being grateful in a stressful situation or even after that stressful situation:
- Woke up late, missed the bus and had to take taxi to work, your presentation sucked, came back home and had no food.
You focused on waking up late but not on the fact that someone prepared breakfast for you before hand. You focused on missing that bus but you were unaware that the bus got stuck in a jam and thankfully you took a cab that did not had to take the bus route and you still reached to work on time. You were aware that your presentation sucked and when you went back home there was no food but thankfully the cafe nearby your house was still open, hence you could order food.
For some time, I have been missing one of my really close friend and finally after some time I could spend some time with her today. She has been so busy that she barely has time for herself and yet she was kind and nice enough to spend it with me when she was free for a short while. And for that I am heavenly grateful! If I was not grateful for her doing such, I would not have been happy. I want to spend more time with her, which would result in me missing her more as she is busy. Consequently, I become upset because I miss her but she has no time to spare. This is what happens when I am not grateful for that short period of time she spend with me. On the other hand, when I am grateful for her doing such, it makes me happy. It makes me happy because my friend went out of her way to spare some time for me and I am grateful for that. It is that gratitude that brings about happiness.
The more grateful we are, the more we attract what we are grateful for. What you send out to the universe it will come back to you. Lastly, learn to be grateful in tough times and not only good times. It is being grateful in the tough times that makes our life easier and happier. Be grateful people. Make the conscious effort to be grateful about 3 to 5 things at the end of the day and the beginning of the day. Start your day feeling grateful and end your day feeling grateful.