Gratitude is an attitude; practice it more often

Most of us take almost everything we’re blessed with for granted. We get sucked into the day-to-day and are so consumed that we tend to forget that we’ve been showered with many gifts that a lot of us now perceive as an entitlement. Everything that you can touch, feel and hear is a gift; many aren’t so lucky. Waking up every day and witnessing dawn to dusk is a gift. Having food served on the table every day is a gift. Going back to a place you call ‘home’ every day is a gift. In a world where 1 in 2 people are victims of cancer, being in good health and free of any illnesses and diseases, is a gift. Having a loving, healthy, family and friends that genuinely care for you, is a gift. Having a job that provides you with some purpose and a sustainable income, irrespective of the battles you may fight every day, is a gift.

We, as human beings, are predisposed to always focus on what we don’t have rather than being grateful for what we have, in the present, in this moment. It doesn’t matter how much you gain in life because you’ll never have enough and believe me, you’ll always want more. Get away from the noise of the world, pause, think and open your eyes; there are so many unlimited things you can be grateful for. Every day brings something, and you should be thankful for all of it, be it bad or good. Imagine, there are people in this very moment that are taking their final breaths and would do anything right now just to grasp onto life for a little while longer and keep the game going for them. You are still alive and may still have tomorrow. Be appreciative and grateful for that. Nothing in life is guaranteed.

This is not me preaching something I don’t practice. While I am also human, and I happen to sometimes fall in the same trap of taking things for granted and being unappreciative, I try and make an active effort to be cognitive of what I have and often realize that I am blessed with so much more than I deserve. Today, I am truly most grateful for:

1.      Strength and Courage

I often view myself as a fragile and sensitive person who gets easily knocked over although everyone around me tends to see me as a strong, resilient, opinionated, independent woman, who pushes back and challenges and does not settle for anything less than she deserves. It’s true; those characteristics represent me. While I still allow things to get to me and I still cry over them like a little baby, I am resilient, and I quickly toughen up like a big girl. I am thankful for life’s incredible experiences and learnings. You are not born a strong and courageous person – you become one once you face your weaknesses and overcome the things you once thought you couldn’t. I am a true fighter.

2.      Opportunity and Choice

Whether I do pursue it or ignore it, I am thankful that opportunity comes knocking every now and then. I am lucky that I have a choice and it’s not always a dead end. For a lot of people, it is what it is, and they have to accept and live with it. While you cannot always control the events, you can choose how you respond to them, but you have to make more conscious choices and decisions, that’s if you want to change the results. I have an opportunity to steer my thoughts, motions and actions in the direction I want them to go and not in the direction that they’re telling me to go and for that, I am utterly grateful.

What are you most grateful for today?