How Gratitude Can Alter Our Perspective Of A Bad Year 2020

‘’Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.’’ Willaim Arthur Ward.

Photo by Gabrielle Henderson on Unsplash

SPIRITUAL SATURDAY

It was Cicero who said, ‘’

‘’Gratitude is not only the greatest virtue but the parent of all others’’

Cicero was a Roman politician, who was banned from politics, at a time. It was during that time that he started his philosophical thinking. He had seen it all during his period as a politician. But what is being grateful signify as a spiritual virtue?

Gratitude is all-encompassing and nurtures all other virtues.

This is because if you are grateful for a person’s presence in your life, for instance, you value the person and the relationship it provides. You listen, you respect, you appreciate and you nurture that relationship. It is always pleasurable whatever they do for you, and you long to reciprocate their gesture, no matter how little.

Gratitude expressed in one’s partner strengthens the relationship. It helps the love grow and nurtures contentment appreciation and love. The opposite is true if one doesn’t feel grateful for one’s partner, and this is where the entitlement mindset comes in. Whatever he does for you, instead of being grateful, you feel you are entitled to it, and that he is only doing his duty. So it closes up further abundance coming to you.

‘’The only work that spiritually purifies us is that which is done without personal motives.’’ Sri Aurobindo

If you are grateful for an object, you take extra care to retain it in its pristine condition. The same is true for your job or profession. You give it what it takes, explore all opportunities to make it better and learn from all the mistakes it provides. You relish in it, you are happy about it, you love it. It builds up your contentment in life.

The Year 2020

The year is such that it brought a new kind of gratitude and appreciation that we have not known before. There is a tendency to hate the year because of COVID-19, but what about the immeasurable lessons the virus had impacted on us? If we look at it as all bad, then it is going to remain so, according to our mindset.

Life Changes When Our Mindset Changes

Life in itself is a great teacher, and we can only learn the lesson when we appreciate the lesson life brings to us on a daily basis. I often said it, life does not present us with any mistakes, no regrets, but only lessons. But the choice is ours. It depends on how we see the lessons life present to us. Roy Bennett said,

‘’When one has a grateful heart, life (irrespective of the outcome) is so beautiful.’’’

As mentioned earlier, 2020 has taught us patience, empathy, and minimalism. My sister, who had a lockdown with her daughter could not believe that she could only manage with four pieces of clothing for six weeks.

Here in the UK, with a second lockdown, shops are closed, (except food stores) and the usual Festives’ Sales, with hundreds spending more than they actually need have subsided.

We have survived the tragedy, have learnt lessons which would not otherwise is available. Most have grown together during the crises, relationships have grown beyond measure. Tragedy has repaired a broken heart. These are crucial life lessons, which can only help our spiritual ascent if we are willing to learn.

Tragedy helps some people express gratitude. I have a colleague who since the twin tower attack has turned her life around. She should have been in one of the planes. She told me, she appreciates life more now, and grateful for every day she alive.

My Personal Consideration

Life might not be perfect for those of us in the developed economy. We might have one or two things to complain about, but consider the millions living in developing countries, where the governments are not accountable to the people and are utterly irresponsible.

We take a lot for granted, tap water, electricity, good roads, medical care, and foods on our table. Consider those in developing countries, these things we take for granted are luxury to them. We forget and demand more, even things we don’t need.

At the local food centre where I volunteer every Saturday, people still complain about what is offered free of charge. So we now tell them, check your bag, give what you don’t want to whoever wants it. So we have a big basket, you drop any product you don’t want, and others go and pick whatever extra they need from the basket.

Hardly do I see people genuinely express gratitude for free foods. All I hear is complaints galore. I sometimes feel bad, and consider what my fellow citizens in Nigeria would have felt if presented with such an opportunity.

Each day at the Centre presents an opportunity to appreciate little things that I normally do take for granted myself. I look at the differences between each people that come to the Centre, their behaviour, how they talk, indicate to me that how one lives her life is really a choice.

The Take-Aways From The Great Minds

Gratitude is derived from a sense of thankfulness created in our mind. If we can perceive it then, we feel the emotion that binds us with the person. We feel joy in our hearts as well. This is the core of gratitude because we appreciate instead of taking things for granted.

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Be grateful for what you already have while you pursue your goals.
If you aren’t grateful for what you already have, what makes you think you would be happy with more.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”
― Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose

“To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us — and He has given us everything. Every breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him.
Gratitude, therefore, takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.”
― Thomas Merton

Thank you, Darshak Rana, for ‘The Spiritual Saturday’ Prompt, VIRTUE, and I have chosen Gratitude.