‘Gratitude makes great attitude’ |09 February 2013

“Learning to be truly grateful can change your life,” said an NCC spokesperson. “It can shift your focus from what life lacks to the abundance that is already yours.”

The Oxford English Dictionary defines gratitude as ‘the quality or condition of being thankful; showing appreciation and readiness to return kindness’.

Gratitude also means counting your blessings, noticing simple pleasures, and acknowledging everything that you receive, making it a habit to say thank you – to express appreciation sincerely and becoming aware of how much you’ve been given on a daily basis.

Just take a look around you. Can you see things? Then be grateful for your sight. Look at the colours around you, how you can distinguish them from each other? Can you appreciate the beauty of the environment that surrounds you? Are you grateful for a loving family? Do you love them in return?

Think about those people who you know who are most appreciative of you – and let you know about it. How do you feel about them? Does their appreciation positively impact your actions?  Keeping an attitude of gratitude for everything you have, and everything you get to do such as going to work, can bring positive benefits into your life.

But being thankful for the good things in life is something we can so easily forget to do, especially whenever our focus gets stuck on what’s going wrong, rather than appreciating what’s going right.

It is so easy to get caught up in daily struggles and forget the countless blessings all around us. Everyone has moments in their lives where nothing seems to go right. Someone out there right now is trying to figure out a way to pay their electricity bill before it gets cut off. Someone is scraping up change for milk so their kids will have breakfast in the morning. For somebody who has just lost his/her house during the last few days the future might seem bleak, but whatever our individual troubles and challenges may be, it’s important to pause every now and then to appreciate all that we have, on every level we can always find something to be grateful about. When we walk the journey of life with gratitude for the gift of life, gratitude for the gift of health etc., each moment becomes a teachable one for us. Each day becomes special.

Gratitude helps us learn that every dark cloud has a silver lining. Behind every problem lies an opportunity. Even if we don't like everything about it, it allows us to be thankful for the opportunity to learn something new.

One can practice gratitude each day with each word, each thought‚ and each gesture. When you express gratitude to others they’re more likely to be good to you in the future. Whenever we are appreciative, we are filled with a sense of well-being and are swept up by the feeling of joy and we feel happier.

If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation -- and usually there is more than one thing -- you will soon discover that your life is filled with wonder and the gratitude you feel will nurture your soul. 

Expressing gratitude and acknowledging the positive things in our lives expands our energy, enables us to appreciate the blessings we have and helps us attract more of them. One way to do this is to focus on all the things that you know to be true – for example, something you’re good at (eg. singing) what you like about where you live (the view), goals you have achieved (promotion) and your advantages and opportunities.

Don’t forget specific individuals who care for you (mum, dad) those who have made contributions to or sacrifices for you, or somehow touch your life.
‘Gratitude makes a great attitude.’

Contributed