It’s no secret that gratitude is a game changer.
Oprah says it turns what you have into enough.
You can be generally grateful for your health, clean air, the rain, and material possessions, and that’s all fine and well… but there is a deeper gratitude.
Before I really saw my own weaknesses and limitations… I didn’t see how others worked to overcome theirs.
I used to think I “deserved” certain things.
I’m not talking about big or extravagant things but I remember saying I deserved to be treated better or that I deserved the punishment I was receiving.
But as I started to see and appreciate my own humanity my relationship with gratitude changed.
I became grateful for my life, for my body, for my health, and for new experiences.
And I certainly became grateful for the efforts that other people put forward.
I began to see that “we are all in this together” doesn’t just refer to the coronavirus, but to life. It’s not better or easy for anyone. We all have struggle and we all have triumph and nobody gets a free ride.
As humans we build, and contribute, and serve each other’s life experiences, and how we do that matters.
And I am deeply grateful for simple things because they are the big things.
When someone is brave, or generous, or helpful, or dedicated, or inspiring I am grateful to be of witness to it.
Once you start to see how scarce these things are, and how these things are, you become ever more grateful when you experience it.
You can be and should be grateful for your health, clean air, the mountains and material possessions, but your life will change when you become grateful for the tiny, or extraordinary, simple efforts that are made by the people you come in contact with. Every single one is a miracle.
When a person doesn’t have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity. A person can almost be defined by his or her attitude toward gratitude. – Elie Weisel