“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.”
― Maya Angelou
My take on gratitude is more or less the same what it was a few months back when I wrote about it for the first time here.
Gratitude is still not a natural disposition and I believe it is a very difficult thing to practice gratitude in your twenties. But I know many people who are really good at it.
Imagine just when you had your entire Saturday planned and then you are called to work, you only feel grumpy, you don’t even feel like telling thanks to the person who wakes up early along with you on Saturday and helps you go to the office on time. Well, technically you should be, but GRUMPY is the word. And then there is this day you would be waiting eagerly to meet a friend, and then she cancels at the last- minute and you end up with no plan because you cancelled with another ten people for this one. I could quote thousands of such instances where the word thanks would hardly cross your mind. But then you would think of me as an extremely negative person, which I am not, you would know if you meet me.
So, when I pondered and pondered which I do most of the time, I realised, any situation is how you take it and my perfectionist mind could not accept the sudden changes and also the mind is like the monkey, untameable, it is very difficult to calm down the spikes. After a discussion with my bestie, we realised that like many things, gratitude is a state of mind. It is about how you take things. When I end up with no plans on weekends because of cancellations, I began considering it as family time, helping mum by preparing lunch. I am judicious with saying thank you to things that are visible but deliberate gratitude is what one needs I feel.
And this practice in your twenties will help you remain sane and focused. Also, I started practising gratitude for my mental health, given the stressful life, it is essential to sail through ripples and hurricanes.
Do you practice gratitude? What would you advise this novice.
Gratitude is such a strong word, and something that we often take for granted.
We are what we are because of the people in our life, and it is funny how we only take the people closest to us for granted.
I sometimes write letters to let people know how grateful I am to have them in my life
Gratitude should be gracefully and sincerely given and Too often we give but find it hard to receive gracefully.
Hi Ramya! What a happy coincidence that we both chose the same topic, Gratitude for today´s challenge. I loved your perspective as a twenty yr old something. Here´s my take in my thirties https://pensense.blogspot.in. Would love to know your thoughts on that. Keep writing and Cheers!
Hi Ramya! What a happy coincidence that we both chose to write on the same topic for the day´s challenge. Loved reading your take on it as a twenty something yr old. Here´s my perspective in my thirties https://pensense.blogspot.in. Would love to read your thoughts on it. Keep writing and Cheers!
Gratitude keeps us sane and though it is the deepest heartfelt emotion the more we express it, the better it is.
I have been guilty of being GRUMPY. But as I moved far from my family I realized how grateful I am to them for all they do! Now when I thank my Maa for small things, she smiles whole day 🙂
I practice gratitude and it keeps me sane. I know not all days can be good but even the worse days could have been worst. So keep at it!
We should try to be more thankful every passing day…that’s what we all need to practice.
I wish more people read this. Its such a simple thing – thank you – does not cost you anything and yet so rare at times. I still make it a point to say this to every staff in the operation theater after a case, no matter how rushed or frenetic I am.
Sudden change of plans can be very annoying at times! I know! 😛 I used to get very angry at my friends earlier when they did that. Now of course, I have sobered down.
I also wrote today on Gratitude. Do check out mine some time. It’ll be great to read your views on it. 🙂
Happy AtoZing!
Chicky @ http://www.mysteriouskaddu.com
Great post. Sometimes, it’s difficult to practice gratitude because your other emotions are playing out. But you’re right, we all should take time to be thankful.
Gratitude and thankfulness is a way of life for me. That’s why we started #ThankfulThursdays where we express Thankfulness every week on the small joys of life