When I came to the USA the first thing that stole my heart was a smile on the faces of people who were strangers to me. Initially, it felt different as I never heard or have seen anyone saying hello to me just like that. But now after living in the USA for almost 12 years, I absorbed this gesture. It comes naturally to me as well. I would say gratitude or showing a gesture of appreciation, kindness is all around us. We just have to see it.
Once, I went grocery shopping and the store manager said “Namaste aap kaise hai?” I replied doing good. Then he also asked me what do we say for “how’s life”? Later, he was practicing that while walking around in the store. To my surprise, next time when I went, he repeated exactly what I told him. Who won’t feel good when someone talks to us nicely?
The reason I gave this example is that, to my understanding, there is so much to thank and show gratitude but unfortunately, we overlook them or say ignore them. It need not have to be a person every time to be grateful to. Incorporating a gratitude practice into your life is one of the best and easiest decisions we can make for our own well-being. As humans, we’re not hard-wired to be grateful – it doesn’t come naturally to us. Isn’t? It is much easier to complain, and think about all the areas in our lives in which we’re experiencing pain or we are upset. When we go through a tough time in our life, thankfulness can be the last thing that comes to mind. But if we see the situation the other way round and see that the tough times as opportunities for learning, growth, and development, it becomes easier to feel grateful.
“Our greatest joys in life are determined by what we do with our gratitude. This is the secret to living a joy-filled life: Finding the smallest reason to be thankful and letting it wash over your heart and change your perspective forever.” -Ashley Reale
Being grateful is a learned process. If we are in the habit of seeing the negatives, we should try to make a conscious effort to look around and find the positives. Believe me, they are there. If we take the time to really look, people and things to be thankful for are all around us. When we start finding positivity around us, things start to look good and full of positive vibes. It will help us in taking conscious decisions with a balanced mindset.
Nowadays, we associate our happiness with tangible things like TV, Apple Watch, iPhone. These things make us want more that we forget the importance and beauty of enjoying simple pleasure experiences like family time, watching a favorite show together.
We teach our kids to be grateful for what they have but do we practice the art of showing gratitude? We tell them not to complain but do we stay happy and positive all the time? Let’s teach them, “no gesture is small when it is done with gratitude.”
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This post is a part of Blog Birthday celebrations contest #slimturns3 hosted by Zainab and Geethica
