02 Mar Gratitude: The Magical Lens

“The secret to having it all is knowing you already do.” – Anonymous

Gratitude is an emotion we create by focusing on what is beautiful and wonderful in our lives. It humbles and ignites every cell in our body all at the same time. It enables us to value what we already have and teaches us to take nothing for granted. We connect, for that brief moment of gratitude, with the abundance, beauty and magic that surrounds us. This is where happiness and fulfillment reside.

Why, then, do we deprive ourselves of this beautiful state of mind? Why do we not create a habit of connecting with all that is right and wonderful in our lives? Instead, why do we choose to be constantly stressed, anxious, worried and frustrated?

We as a society and culture, my friends, have not learned to live life with gratitude. Not only that, we have become entitled, constantly attaching ourselves to the outcome and wanting absolute control of our lives, creating an egoistic frame of mind.

We have learned and we proudly teach our children to flawlessly verbalize the phrase “thank you.” It’s the magic word we say. Yes, it makes for a polite society, but is far from feeling a deep sense of thankfulness. We are born on this miraculous planet called earth. The synchronicities, flows, and energy that come together to make it all work so impeccably leave the human mind in awe. What we have to understand is that as humans, we are not here to experience all of this, we are here as a part of it. Life does not happen to us, it happens through us.. We have to learn to breath into, connect and appreciate this grand divinity.

However, caught up in the beliefs and expectations of society, we begin to disconnect from this greatness. Starting with pre-school, we learn to continuously set goals one after the other. Once we achieve one, we already have the next one set in place.

This process takes us from pre-school all the way to our first job, first car, first home, and first child. Then, it starts all over again doing the same thing with our children. Am I saying it’s wrong to strive to do your best and achieve all that you possibly can? Absolutely not! Goals setting is one of the most essential elements to achieving the life of our dreams. The problem comes when we constantly base our happiness on the outcome and letting our failures, hardships and challenges drag us down. When we fail to acknowledge all that we already have and our personal growth and journey that happens along the way.

There needs to be a big shift in our perspective and focus. At any given moment, life is the art of graciously accepting all that comes our way, constantly keeping our focus on all its beauty and blessings. By training our minds to take nothing for granted and appreciating all that is present we begin to develop a deep sense of gratitude. From this place of thankfulness we can begin to have clarity and vision for where we are going.

Here are 7 steps to start

living with gratitude:

1. Start a gratitude journal. Write 5 things you are grateful for every day. They need not be big things and nothing is too small.   A delicious cup of coffee, glorious sunshine.. someone’s warm smile, the roof over your head. The list goes on and on. Find something different in each day.  Read your journal periodically. It’s humbling to see how much we are blessed with.

2. Make gratitude a habit. Every morning, before I put my feet on the ground, I think of what I am most thankful for.  During this peaceful moment we have to train ourselves to feel the vibration of this emotion from the top of our head to our toes.  Make this a daily habit and see when it works the best for you. If you work in the office think of a blessing each time you look out the window, or every time you come home from work.  We are creatures of habit. So let’s make it a daily habit.

3. Throughout the day when faced with difficult, stressful situations, or difficult people, take a gratitude break. Shift your focus from the problem to all that is joyful in life. This helps us keep the problem in perspective. It keeps us from letting the problem define our day. Remember it is through these difficult times that we grow and learn.  We always come stronger on the other side of challenges.

4. Celebrate and acknowledge every little success. And before you set the next goal, challenge yourself to be grateful for where you are and how far you have come. Embrace that dream turned into reality and appreciate it with all your heart.

5. Learn to feel gratitude for your own body, mind and soul. Look in the mirror, past your physical being and look for all that is beautiful about you.  Appreciate your being for what it is. There is no perfect, set model of what we should be like. We are all unique and beautiful. Find your unique, authentic self and learn to love and appreciate it.  

6. Spend time in nature and really connect to all the beauty that surrounds us. A hike in the mountains, a weekend get away or a trip to a new place. Getting out into nature gives us an opportunity to experience all that is much bigger than our everyday problems. It gives us a new perspective.

7. When life is at its worst, check your pulse. That pulse is a blessing.

Our life truly is our creation. It’s an echo of our thoughts, feelings and emotions. What we send out is what comes back to us. When we choose to live from a place of gratitude, we find more to be grateful for. It’s the universal law of cause and effect.

We cannot be grateful and focus on what is wrong or missing in our lives at the same time. The practice of gratitude makes our journey joyful, happy and fulfilled. It lets us look at what we think is everyday ordinary and see it for the extraordinary it truly is.  It grounds us and connects us to the divinity that surrounds us and resides within us.

Gratitude truly is the magical lens.

Devinder Maan was born in a small village in India. She came to Canada as a shy 10 year old and now, 45 years later, she has so much to be proud of. After running a success business for over 15 years, she has established a non-profit organization (The Saheli Foundation) and has started a life style blog (fabulousfiftyfive.com). Her greatest pride to date is raising three beautiful humans with her soul mate of over three and a half decades. Devinder’s mission in life is to be constantly learning, growing and evolving.