The Liberating Effect of Being Grateful

Do you find your life seems to be a constant whirl of activity where you don’t have time to sit for a minute and just contemplate the good things you have in your world? Society today seems to have created a cycle for most of us that necessitates a constant rush from activity to activity with little or no time to be still and appreciate the good things in our lives.

Many of us need to stop and take stock of what we have, rather than what we don’t have, in order to stop this endless cycle that will eventually burn out or some other physical reaction. Learning to be grateful for the things we have rather than continuously seeking the things we don’t have, unleashes the power of optimism in our lives.

Gratitude is a powerful characteristic to develop. As we focus on gratitude for the blessings that are ours today, we stop taking them for granted. Cicero once wrote, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of all virtues, it is the parent of them.”  The attitude of never having enough and never being grateful is such a negative attitude; others don’t want to be around it. Yet the opposite is true for the person who radiates gratitude. They usually attract more reasons to be grateful and find more reasons to be grateful.

This attitude permeates every part of their life and is the drive that compels them to undertake the activities scheduled for the day. People who learn to be genuinely grateful for what they already have, creating a reduction in the need to be constantly seeking more. They feel genuine appreciation for  other’s efforts and contributions and have energy left over to reach out to others from the perspective of being appreciative for what they themselves already have.

We all know people like this. History has recorded many famous names of people who have learned this important life lesson. We can transform the way we approach our life by developing this characteristic. Writing down each day at least three things to be grateful for, is a great way to cultivate this attitude and  taking  time during the day to express our gratitude to friends, family, God  or the world, is a great way to learn to live in an attitude of gratitude even when we are faced with a hectic schedule.