The Gift of Gratitude

This week I would share one of the mind-sets that I consider to be one of the foundation of living a happy and healthy life – gratitude.

In this technological advanced era, we have often taken most things for granted since almost everything can be automated to save us time with a click of a button or snap of a finger.  When’s the last time you feel thankful for something? Even the smallest gesture, for example, someone holding the door for you or tasting a scrumptious meal at a restaurant.   Did you even notice or were you too busy to pay attention?

When we feel thankful, when we appreciate what’s around us, we are giving back to the universe in a form of gratitude.  This is part of the law of nature, with energies circulating and interacting around us at all time.  The feeling of gratitude is one of the most powerful energies there are – because there is only positive energy that comes of it, and it only multiplies and helps raise our frequency to a higher plane.   Why? Because being grateful instils a state of contentment and abundance in us. This energy calms us and in turn helps invite and attract other similar events into our lives.  By feeling thankful and truly appreciating something means we cherish the experience or the person, essentially the energy created at that moment, we are living in the moment and no longer taking things for granted.

It’s totally understandable that we all have one of those “off” days when nothing goes our way or sometimes we feel we are just stuck in a rut, so you would ask, what is there to be grateful for?  No matter how crappy your day is or how upset you are with something or someone, there is always something to be thankful for.  Gratitude is a mind-set that needs patience and awareness to cultivate and its benefit could be more deeply felt if we practice this consistently, not just for a day or few hours.  Rather than focusing on what you don’t have, appreciate what you do have at this moment in your life.  Sounds cliché, but this mind-set will help lift us, balance and reset any negative emotion around us. 

One of my favorite practices I always try to remember to do at night before going to bed, even when I am quite tired, is to think about three to five things I am grateful for that day.  They are usually something small or insignificant in others’ eyes, but to me, they are simple things or gestures that made my day went a little easier, smoother and happier.  They could be a friendly driver letting me in on his/her lane when I was stuck in mine, a delicious lunch and a catch up with a good friend, or a good yoga session with a client one morning.  Those are the things I am thankful for. 

You may still be sceptical or think this is naïve or that there is really no time in your life right now to pay attention to how you feel with every minor thing happening in your life.  That’s okay.  When you are taking a break, waiting for a cab or walking towards your next meeting or appointment, try to think of some things you are thankful for and be grateful for them.  Hopefully you will experience more major events that you will be grateful for and soon feel a positive energy shift around you. 

By Vera