We know that root of all joy is Gratitude. We know that we should be thankful and grateful for all things and experiences in life and that we should express it on a regular basis. While the aim should be to make it a way of life but it’s easier said than done.
Whenever dark clouds of misery and challenges surround us, gratitude is far from our thoughts as feelings of anxiety, annoyance and irritation take over. Like for example, KG has been working on a project that finally took off after a lot of delays. Things were moving in the right direction and then suddenly, last week it came to halt. All his efforts ended in a smoke. We were truly disappointed and disheartened.
Can we really Express Gratitude when the project we are coveting did not work for us? The answer is, yes, we can. As I asked KG about his next plan of action, his first words were, “It’s wonderful that this project ended at this stage, if it had ended a bit later, things would had been disastrous. We have learnt from this experience and now know what we should not be doing”. And I was truly grateful for his positive attitude and willingness to move ahead despite the setback.
Gratitude is an affirmation of goodness. We affirm that we have good things and experiences in our life. But this does not mean that our life is perfect and is free from pain, misery and failures. Gratitude encourages us to look at some goodness in our life, despite the challenges.
Here are 7 reasons to express gratitude and why we should make it a habit.
Reason #1 : Gratitude Improves Relationships – Feeling grateful helps us to identify people who are responsive to our needs, and helps to bring us closer to them, thereby improving our relationship with them.
Reason #2 : Gratitude Improves Performance and Productivity – When we hear words of gratitude, we are energized and motivated and that reflects in our work and life in general.
Reason #3 : Gratitude Blocks Negative Emotions – We cannot feel resentful and grateful at the same time. They’re incompatible feelings. If we are grateful, we can’t hold grudge with someone for having something that we don’t.
Reason #4 : Gratitude Uplifts the Soul and Spirit– Gratitude is good for mental health. It boosts happiness and improves overall sense of well-being and quality of life.
Reason #5 : Gratitude Initiates a Chain Reaction – Gratitude transforms the giver as well as the receiver. Thanking others makes them feel good about the kind acts that they’ve done, so they want to continue doing them, not only for us but also for others.
Reason #6 : Gratitude Makes You Resilient – If we have grateful disposition, we would be bouncing back from sufferings and miseries pretty quickly. And this happens because a grateful person has better perspective of interpreting the adversities of life, so he can pull himself out of anxiety and stress, easily.
Reason #7 : Gratitude Increases Our Appreciation For Life – Dalai Lama has said, “Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can.” When we are grateful for waking up and breathing and realize that there are so many who just lost this blessing of breath, we truly live and celebrate our present.
Is expressing gratitude a part of your life? How has gratitude brought a change in your life?
Linking this to the second edition of BAR-A-THON by Blog-A-Rhythm and Vidya Sury’s Gratitude Circle
Theme – Seven
Day 7
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