Conscious Gratitude

 

Complimenting is an art. When something is nice or when someone does something nice, say it. How easily, things are taken for granted, as though they were set to auto-pilot mode to function, regardless of any changes or challenges along the way!

The most precious thing that someone can gift you ever, is their time. So when efforts are put in to do something for you, be thankful, have gratitude. The value of something won’t be known unless it doesn’t become available to you anymore.

So what if you have to be thankful for the littlest of things? It’s after all these little things that constitute life. There’s nothing to lose in the process of gratitude, in fact, it makes you a better human. By enjoying every bit of life, you end up living in the here and now.

There’s room for love only when there’s gratitude. It’s after all, only when your cup is full that you’d be able to pour out of it. If you aren’t happy and content yourself, never are you going to be able to make someone else feel good, no matter how hard you try. Or at least you may think that you’re keeping the other person happy, when in reality, you’re nowhere close to even understanding what their thoughts are, let alone making them feel good.

The process of gratitude is underestimated, especially in our Indian society, although originally India has been known for its culturally rich behavioural heritage. The word ‘formality’ gets wrongly associated with the emotion of gratitude, thereby demeaning the importance of thank-worthy deeds. Being grateful is viewed as though something is ripped apart, if and when expressed. It’s more of a gender-driven status symbol – that remembering little details of your significant other or your family members is all meant for the women. Emotions are for everyone – you can’t have one person giving generously each time and the other, being the taker. Isn’t it supposed to be mutual?

By expressing, it doesn’t mean you’re being overtly expressive and showering praises and love 24X7. A small mention somewhere during the middle of the day or even at the end of the day would go a long way in preventing mid-life crisis that many go through. In fact, many a reason for separation is for what’s viewed as trivial and insignificant – when in reality, when all these reasons put together make up a bad relationship. It could be because of anything – Just because of a delayed expression of a feeling, just because you took all the time in the world to say something appreciative, just because you kept assuming, just because you never had a heartfelt conversation, just because you didn’t stop amidst your busy schedule and care to exchange a loving glance at each other, just because you didn’t value the presence of another human who co-exists with you in the household – after all, we’re all human and have to be respectful of each one’s time. Never be the reason why someone would want to give up and walk out of something or go dormant about their emotions – That's even harder to heal and would lead to unwarranted health complications.  

Why would you want to wait for something major to happen for you to begin feeling thankful? After all, what’s the guarantee of someone to always be with you? The misunderstanding is that; we think we have time for those big things. The more grateful we are, the more content we become – there’d be even more things to be happy about.

Being grateful doesn’t necessarily mean saying a thank you, as though in a ritualistic manner. It’s what you feel, and put out there, from deep within. This may sound like a complicated procedure, but when you practise conscious gratefulness, it becomes a natural habit and turns out to be a truly rewarding experience.

So what are you thankful for, today? I am thankful about the fact that my mother-in-law enjoyed my pineapple rasam and mentioned it post lunch that she enjoyed her food :)

Try being grateful by actually expressing it to your near and dear ones, and notice how you’d bring a curve on their lips and fill up their entire day!