Gratitude - almost a buzzword, constantly thrown around on social media, magazines, newspapers, etc. We're told to maintain gratitude journals, to recite 5 things we're grateful for before bed every night, to thank the universe for everything we have and whatnot. This complex emotion has been skinned into being a mere word. Just nine letters strung together by an unwavering, mechanical string. It's a process now, a routine. We've lost sight of gratitude as a mindset, a feeling, an emotion.
I'm sure we all like to think we're grateful people. We appreciate things. We take pictures. We're thankful to be able to experience what we do, to see what we see, to hear what we hear. But do we ever pause for a second? Do we stop and smell the daisies? Do we feel light fill up every corner of our souls until we need to shield our eyes against the pure, blinding whiteness?
We're all incredibly blessed- including you, reading this. And me, writing this. We have a device to read this on, a roof over our heads, food on our tables, a literacy level enough to be able to comprehend what's written here. These things are often an oversight because we think we are entitled to what we have and we're surrounded by people having the same. However, it must come to our attention that there are so so so many people who lack these resources.
"Okay, Simrun," you say. "But how do I create gratitude when I'm so used to complaining and looking at the negative?"
And to that I respond - you don't create gratitude. We all possess it. You just need to know which pair of glasses to wear. Let me explain:
We often mope over inconsequential things, and adorn ourselves with what I like to call the gray coloured glasses; we nitpick exactly what's wrong with our lives. I want this, I want that, I hate this, I hate that, etc. We’re never happy with what we have.
Now, I ask you to adorn yourselves with rose coloured glasses; nitpick, or rather pick out, exactly what's right with your lives. I love this, I love that, I'm so blessed to have this, I'm so blessed to have that.
Sure, this is easier said than done. But as soon as you figure out how to change the gears in your mind and wear the right glasses, you'll find a lot more things to be grateful for. As your brain constantly tries to find faults, you'll find more faults.
Think of it this way- when you're trying to look for a red car, there's a higher chance you'll point out a red car than you were if you were looking for a blue one, right?
The same way, when you're trying to look for positive things in your life, there's a much higher chance you'll find more positive things than if you were looking for negativity. Don't yearn for negativity. Don't search for it.
As soon as you go on the quest for something, you create it.
The longer you wear the right glasses, the more you'll understand this fickle emotion. The more you'll see daisies- and stop to smell them. The more your soul will fill with the blinding light.
So, the next time you catch your vision tainted by the grey glasses, pause. Pause and wear the rose coloured ones instead. Think about the smallest things in your life that you can be thankful for, and really understand how you would be without them. Don't make a statement of gratitude - feel it consume you until you're giddy and high off of life itself.
Take charge of your own vision.
Wear your rose coloured glasses.
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