An Attitude Of Gratitude

I was surprised to see a ‘Thank You’ card lying in the small temple we have in the house. After some preliminary search, I realized it was made by my five year old son. I was obviously curious and asked him what this “Thank You” card was all about and he simply said, he wanted to thank God for the situation he was in. Just a week ago we had visited an orphanage and he had seen many children without parents who were dependent on others for everything. My son felt he was always happy because of God as he gave him everything without asking.

At the age of five, my little son taught me a very big lesson – Develop an attitude of gratitude.

We often take things for granted and forget to acknowledge and cherish the things we are blessed with. While sometimes we have some gratitude for the so called big things like a good family, career, house etc., but many small and somewhat not so obvious aspects get missed out. That day I decided to try and develop and practice gratitude by being thankful for aspects like

1. Being Alive – For waking up with all my senses intact each day – I can breathe, see, smell, hear and touch and witness a beautiful life
2. Living a relatively healthy life. I have my own health niggles but they are nothing compared to being on medication for life or living on therapy or waking up in hospital bed
3. Not having to worry about my next meal or a roof under the sun
4. Having a great set of friends and family
5. Being able to share laughter, sorrow, achievements, regrets and dreams with people who are willing to listen
6. Living a life where my basic needs are taken care of and I can walk the path of self-discovery and development through Yoga

 Yes, there are two sides to coin, but I have now started looking at the “gratitude side” first and this simple change in perspective has led to experiencing better health, beautiful relationships, less stress, more happiness and an overall better quality of life by redirecting my attention to haves from have nots. My prayer has changed from a list of demands to a list of thanks giving and the attitude of gratitude is keeping me firmly grounded and yet allowing me to fly freely.

Thank you my dear son!!!

Renu Jain (26.04.2018)