It was my first class with my teacher and all he asked me to do was write down 12 things that I felt grateful for in my life at that point in time. And he gave me 5 whole minutes to list them down. At that time such a simple exercise seemed a herculean task – it took me a while to list those 12 things.
So I suggest that as you read this – take a pen and paper and write down what you feel grateful for.
Our list typically includes our family including pets, friends, perhaps teachers, health, wealth, may be work..and then we start struggling. This small exercise was yet the simplest and biggest learning of my life. How we take everything for GRANTED!
So just pause…and reflect. If writing 12 things that you feel grateful for took a while, then know that’s our myopic / conditioned way of looking at life. Practicing gratitude requires a lot of self reflection and truly feeling grateful for the life we have, all the experiences and all the things that are part of that experience.
My list of all the things that am grateful for over years of practice has pretty much become endless. And to just name a few, these include – the fact that I am alive and if I wake up the next day means I have another day and all the experiences that come with that day to be grateful for, a brain that works normally, eyes that see the beauty around, limbs and toes that work perfectly well, overall health, that I can write, read, my masters who have come along to teach to me to look at whole of life as a blessing ( with all ups and downs), clean air to breathe ( which means a cleaner environment), water in the taps, a comfortable home and living, things like car to drive, technology, refrigerator to open and close, washing machine to do my clothes, electricity, water to drink, supermarkets where I can get all the things I want, food to eat ( which I don’t even grow myself), restaurants and people who serve me, flowers to decorate my home, money to buy all those things, access to education, books, that I can travel, explore places, that I was born in a free country, I have the freedom to BE, meet various people along the journey of life, and most importantly feel and experience love in all forms, etc etc etc.
Being grateful always perks us up, its the positive energy. It invokes humility and a deep sense of understanding that we co-exist in a co-dependent environment. The whole drive of being independent is Ego’s game. The day we embrace our interdependence we would be able to lift away the unnecessary pressure of the EGO that simply limits our experience. This is what is truly the essence behind understanding the saying “Gratitude as the best attitude”. In terms of energy its the highest vibration, understanding the law of attraction as that we do not attract what we want, but we attract who “we are” ( what our energy is).
Practice gratitude everyday, every moment, for a real prayer is the prayer of gratitude…