The Gift Of Gratitude

“I was complaining that I had no shoes till I met a man who had no feet.”— Confucius

It is easy to practice gratitude when good things are happening. The real challenge comes when we are faced with adversity. Last week I had to fork out a lot of money to fix my car. I was immediately annoyed when the car repairman called to give me the bad news. There were a lot of other ways I would have rather spent that money.

Before I got too carried away with my agitation, the gratitude seed sprouted in my thoughts. At least I have the money to fix my car and it’ll only take a day and I will be back on the road tomorrow.

The old me would have phoned a friend and spent an hour on the phone bemoaning how unfair life was, working myself into a wave of self-pitying anger that would probably last for days or at least a couple of hours. I would have been rehashing those negative feelings with each person unlucky enough to pick up the phone.

Since the daily practice of gratitude, I have learned to let stuff go. Life happens, if you’re still healthy and sane, keep it moving.

Gratitude is the best intrinsic motivator. The reward of inner peace it brings is invaluable. I am grateful to have discovered the value of practicing gratitude in my life.