Happiness in Simplicity
Are You Grateful Today?
Who gave you an act of kindness that changed the course of your day or even your life?
Don’t you remember?
Forgetting is natural, but it’s remarkable how much we focus on the negative things others have done to us rather than small acts of kindness.
Today, I challenge you to reflect on gratitude. How is this feeling born?
To feel gratitude, several conditions must be met simultaneously: the benefit received must be positively evaluated, not perceived as the result of one’s own merits or efforts, and an intention felt on the part of the one who provided the benefit.
In other words, if you receive a gift from someone you’ve done a favor to in the past, you probably won’t feel gratitude. But if a stranger or even a friend gives you a gift, especially without being asked and without any “obligation,” then you feel gratitude.
The “gift” can be anything: an object, a gesture, a word, a service.
A benefit received repeatedly becomes routine and no longer generates gratitude. People no longer feel gratitude for the big things in life, such as health, family, or work, because they have become part of their daily routines.
Gratitude reappears only when the possibility of losing them; not losing something is considered a benefit or favor. It is interesting that not only positive events can generate gratitude but also moments when negative, catastrophic events could have had sad consequences but were avoided.
We must also consider that gratitude can occur when the benefit or gift was expected, perhaps even requested, and when it corresponds to needs or desires.
A benefit, regardless of its size, that does not match the recipient's desires will not generate gratitude; only a polite response will. Thank you!
