In many ways, we have become a society of complainers. We complain about our families, our friends, our jobs, and our overall situations. Nothing is enough for us. However, this focus on complaining in reality leaves us empty. The winners in life are the people that show gratitude. Gratitude brings about more gratitude, which brings about happiness, which brings about a better life. When we become cynics, whether it is about the government, religion, or society, it slowly destroys us inside. More dangerous than the division it causes, all the complaining and bashing doesn’t give any hope, but ultimately leaves us with feelings of emptiness and cynicism.
Perhaps, it is because we have been given so much. Ironically, when we are given a lot it often doesn’t make us more grateful, but less grateful. I could see this plain and clear when I was teaching high school students in the United States. Many had been given so much that they failed to appreciate all they had around them. However, this not just a problem teenagers face, but the whole of our society. I suppose sometimes we have to do without to really understand all the blessings we have around us. In fact, unless we go without at times, we may never experience the joy and goodness all around us. Maybe, that is one reasons difficult situations come into our life- to make us grateful for the world around us, which is the only we will ever really have happiness.
Today, I decided to express my gratitude to two people around me and write them a short note. The first was my Sociology teacher when I was a freshman in college. Her class not only helped shape my career, but also shaped my life and my view on the world. The second person I wanted to thank was a pastor at Crossroads Church in Greenville, South Carolina whose church really helped me through a really time of transition during my life. When we are thankful in our beings, towards God, and to those around us, we will be transformed as individuals. Even more important is to be grateful for those around you who have always cared for you which you may have taken for granted. If you read much about some of the most influential and successful people in life, you find they are the ones that find the positives in the situations and always find something to be grateful for. As Melodie Beattie states,
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
And as Cicero stated
Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”
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