The Power of Gratitude

Blessed are those who know the Power of Gratitude in their lives. It has been proven by scientific research that grateful people stay happier, maintain better inter-personal relationships, and have a strong, well functioning heart. Being in gratitude helps reduce stress levels as well. Now are you ready to reap these benefits?

Gratitude is of three types.

We say thanks when someone does something for us, or gives something to us. Saying thanks is almost like a reflex action in most civilized societies. Its importance has been taught to children right from the time they learn to speak. It is considered polite to do so, and the failure to say thanks is considered as epitome of bad manners. We Indians somehow associate saying thanks to a degree of formality. In our wisdom we only say thanks to strangers or acquaintances, but never to friends and family. In fact saying thanks to friends and family is a sacrilege, for it means that we don’t consider the person close enough, otherwise why would we say thanks in the first place? I have seen people take offence if you murmur your thanks to appreciate their action. For them it somehow takes their pleasure away!

While saying thanks for things that you want, get, and appreciate is all very well, you reach the next level in gratitude when you say thanks for all that the life hands over to you whether you want it or not. This expression of thanks is not easy for most of us, however cultured. For us this is the time to crib, and to complain. Whoever gives thanks for things and events that they don’t want in their lives? The biggest lesson in life is to have faith in the wisdom of the Universe. Your expression of thanks for everything, wanted or unwanted, conveys to the Universe that you believe in His Greater Wisdom. The results that eventually accrue from such faith are mind boggling.

The most important stage of gratitude is when you are in the feeling of gratitude ‘all the time’. You are thankful for the very air you breathe, the birds and animals around you, the trees and the flowers, EVERYTHING. As children we used to recite this poem,

Thank you God for world so sweet,
Thank you God for the food we eat,
Thank you God for the birds that sing,
Thank you God for everything

Words like these help keep us in the attitude of gratitude, the best attitude ever possible. This is the state that is ideal, and we all must make an effort towards achieving it.

How can we maintain this attitude in our lives? Well, there are some guidelines that I can offer you, rest lies in your willingness to try. All we need to understand is that these two words “Thank You’ have the power to transform our lives.

Maintain a ‘Gratitude Journal’. Everyday write five things in your life that you are grateful for. Make sure to introduce one new thing to be thankful for everyday. Very soon you will start appreciating all that you ‘have’, and stop thinking about all that you ‘don’t have as yet’. The best part is that by being grateful for what you already have, you will start attracting all that you ‘want to have’. Yes, that is the magic and Power of Gratitude. Why don’t you invite this magic into your own lives?

The Times of India, Shimla Plus, 15 Dec 2007, Chitra Jha