It is not happy people who are thankful; but thankful people who are happy!
If you were to pick up a pen and paper & write down a list of 10 incidents you are unhappy about, how long would it take? 10 minutes or may be even lesser.
Now on the other side of this paper write down 10 incidents you are grateful for. You are really an evolved soul if it takes less than 10 minutes.
Going to a garden, watching a good movie, meeting the people we like or doing any activity we enjoy, make us temporarily feel happy. But one of the sure and independent way to feel happy is having a heart filled with gratitude.
Researches over decades have shown that people to experience and express gratitude have better sense of wellbeing as compared to those who don’t.
Well, expressing gratitude isn’t as easy (or rather doesn’t come to us naturally) as complaining. Gratitude may not only be limited to saying thank you when someone greets you or brings you a gift or does a kind deed. It brings a deeper joy when we mean it from our heart for someone who unknowingly enriches our lives, in the course of just being themselves (without an aim to please us).
When looked at it in this way, my heart reaches out to all those beings (living & non living) who have helped me be what i’m today. From a friend who was there when most needed ( even when not called for) to a friend who wasn’t there even after being called for. It made me realise my innate potential of managing myself and being independent.
In this way, I sensed a deep gratitude from my heart to all those who not only have loved me, but all those who have hurt me and wronged me. In a way, they helped me discover my hidden qualities and stay integrated without labelling or judging their behaviour.
One can do a small exercise to experience this beautiful emotion.
- Reflect for 5 minutes every day on the things that made you happy.
- Make a journal for a fortnight and every night pen down the incidents that you would feel grateful for.
- Post an email/text message/handwritten letter to the person you feel grateful towards. Best could be making a call or meeting them in person if time and distance permits.
We all love it when situations & people are the way which are most favourable to us. I’d request you to look at those situations which didn’t seem as favourable & then introspectively look at the changes within you before and after the situation. Once this is done, you will get in touch with the shift the situation brought in for you to be a better person. This way you too can experience gratitude which enriches your soul.