G For Gratitude

Gratitude is an attitude of being thankful for all the things we do have, rather than complain about the things we don’t have or things that are not happening the way we want. Gratitude is a way of life; it is a lifestyle.

Gratitude is about focusing on what's good in our lives and being thankful for the things we have. Gratitude is pausing to notice and appreciate the things that we often take for granted, like having clean air to breath, food to eat, pure water to drink, friends, family, and everything else we often take for granted.

Many people used to take life for granted, until Ms. Rona happened. Now, when you get to see what’s happening in different parts of the world including where you are reading this from, you’ve probably woken up to the fact that life is very precious. So now people who never used to take care of their health are busy boosting their immunity and doing everything they need to do to stay alive. Suddenly life has a meaning. It has a new value attached to it and people are now genuinely grateful to be alive. That genuineness is gratitude.

Gratitude is a way for people to appreciate what they have instead of focusing on what they don’t have, and I think COVID-19 is teaching many people this lesson forcefully. Many people were chasing many material things believing that once they got them they would feel happier or satisfied or complete. I believe people are learning the hard way to appreciate life in a very different way now. Please don’t get me wrong! I am not saying that having dreams, goals and aspirations is wrong. No. All I am saying is that sometimes in the quest for those dreams/goals/aspirations, we tend to forget what is really important until we get a wake up call like now. 

Can I tell you something? If you can’t appreciate the little you have now, even when you get everything you want you still won’t know how to appreciate it. Why? Because how you do one thing is how you do everything else. Gratitude is an intentionally created habit. You choose to look for the good in the bad as opposed to looking for the bad in the good.

Gratitude helps people refocus on what they have instead of what they lack and in so doing, they get more to give gratitude for. In my podcast on G For Gratitude, I have shared a personal story of how I changed my life just by adopting an attitude of gratitude towards myself. Yes! There is a time I Hated myself so much I just couldn’t stand myself. If there was a way I could have distanced myself from myself, I believe I would have done that. It was not until I changed my attitude towards how I saw myself that I started finding things to appreciate about me. 

Listen to the podcast here and I am sure you will learn a lesson or two from my story.

If you learn to be appreciative of the little things you have today, once you get them, appreciating the big things you are working towards now will be easy. However, if you keep complaining about the things you don’t have today, even when you get them you will still continue complaining because that will have become your habit.

The more you complain, the more you find more things to complain about.​

Cultivate an attitude of gratitude and you will never miss an opportunity to be grateful. Like someone said, “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.” Choose to see the roses in life's thorns and your life will always be beautiful even when it doesn't seem like it is.

Be ignited. Be inspired. Be influenced. Become the best version of yourself you can ever be.