Do you know of people who seem to have everything in life but are not happy and people who live a very simple life or have suffered from misfortune but yet they are happy ?
If you look at them as lessons of life, you will find that the happy people are always grateful for every moment of their life. That does not mean they are happy for their misfortune, of course not. It is normal to have sad moments in life, especially when we are faced with misfortunes.
- Grateful people will stop to look beyond their misfortunes and appreciate the kindness rendered upon them…Their thoughts of gratitude towards those who have been kind to them is enough to bring them peace and more empathy to those in real struggles.
- Grateful people are always content and thankful for all the little things in life; be it the weather, water, food, family, friends, or work…They are grateful for what they have as opposed to complaining about what they do not have.
- They are grateful for each brand new day…They see each present moment as an opportunity to make amendments for the past and to make improvements for a happier future. They believe those who fail will always get another opportunity.
A Grateful Living
So if gratitude is the power to a happy life, how can we develop a grateful living to better secure our own happiness ? As I learn to practise gratitude, I realise a couple of the common blind spots for us to watch out :
- Greed…we keep yearning for more and it is this greed that could never be fulfilled leading to unhappiness…for example: desiring more material possessions; envying others’ success and coveting their success instead of being happy for them; taking others’ kindness for granted and demanding more instead of being grateful.
Not being greedy allows us to open our heart to be more giving and promotes happy feelings in our heart. It allows us to feel good and at peace with life and everyone around us.
- Ego…being grateful means letting go of our ego…for example: are we too proud to face our mistakes truly and learn from those teaching moments; must we win an argument instead of just being happy and accepting the differences in people and respecting them.
Letting go of ego can make one more peaceful and grateful for another moment of opportunity to improve one’s life.
To be happy, it is about grateful living and not once in a while gratefulness. My learning journey to practise gratitude has been an interesting one. There were so many things that I was not consciously mindful of and have taken for granted till I decided to make an effort to pen things down.
I still miss some moments but I am grateful that there is always a present moment for a new opportunity for me to keep improving !
Lyn 🌻😊
Thank you Lyn …. I like what you said that it is grateful living and not once in a while gratefulness that brings happiness… I will put this into practice because I think it will help me in my life, so thank you . Please continue to share with us your life”s journey and learning to inspire us.
This is great Leanne. So happy to know it inspires and motivates you to put into practice grateful living. May you always be well and happy 🙂
Be grateful for every little things in life and that will lead us to happinesss . Just like now, I am grateful to be on leave today after a busy week, lying flat on my sofa reading and commenting on your post. Believe it or not, something so simple is enough to make me happy and satisfied.
Well done SKL ! Simple grateful living and taking time to appreciate the little things in life..
Hi Lyn,
Thank you for sharing.
Your article remind me of a novel “To Live 活着, 余华著” .
The protagonist of the book , Fugui is the son of a landlord. After squandering his family’s fortune in gambling dens and brothels and the sudden death of his father, Fugui settles down to do the honest work of a farmer,….. Soon after, his mother has died , a high fever has left his daughter Fengxia deaf and mute , His only son, Youqing dies due to medical negligence while donating blood to save the magistrate’s wife , Years later, his daughter finds a suitable husband Erxi, who too has a disability–a crooked head. Their happy life ends when Fengxia dies from giving birth to their son Kugen. Soon, Fugui’s wife Jiazhen dies of osteomalacia and Erxi dies in a construction accident.
Finally, Fugui’s only remaining family member, Kugen, his grandson, dies as he chokes to death while eating beans.
After going through much pain and hardship and who has outlived everyone he has ever loved, yet he still appreciates life – he lives simply to live.
At the end of the story, Fugui is alone with the only ox in the field.
Hey Kim, thank you for taking time to share the novel story… good reflection, how many of us can really be grateful for everything, including misfortunes…
They say – always have an attitude of gratitude as a path to happiness. You have expressed it so well – in a really simple and easy to understand way. Thanks for sharing Lyn!
Thank you so much for your kind words Rajiv, I am grateful for your comment.
Three Good Things (TGT), is how I practice gratitude.
If we see things as beautiful, it would be beautiful.
If we choose to see things as bad, it would be bad.
Every day, reflect on 3 good things that are grateful for, which can be very simple things in life. For example, I’m grateful that I have my daughter is able to wake up on her own for school. Or I’m grateful that the class went well today. Or, I don’t feel pain after the long morning walk.
Japanese Ikigai of happiness in life is connecting to nature appreciating how it enhances daily life. Zen values include the intention to be kind and generous when interacting with others. Chinese saying. 宽容, 有宽就有容。舍得, 有舍 就有得.
The Beauty Of Being A Grateful Human Being. Awesome article! Keep Inspiring, Lyn!
Wow Jimmy, thank you so much for sharing your practices ! Seems like a great approach, I must give it a try.
Hey Lyn! This is such a wonderful post and I’m grateful to you for sharing it. I found your post on LinkedIn.
What hit me the most from your post is “To be happy, it is about grateful living and not once in a while gratefulness.” This is so true!
Edited
Thank you so much Pritesh for your kind comments, I am so glad you resonated with it.
Love the reminder to let go of one ego and yes grateful and appreciative are so key to being happy and contented with every bit in life…
Hi Yam, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts.
Lyn,
A joy to read another profound article and all the interesting responses. Be grateful if we are given the opportunity to breath the free air. I would choose to smile than to be sulky when I open my eyes for another day. Ah…I am awake to share another day. Pleasant day to all. 4am UK time.
Spring
Thank you Spring ! Yes I am so grateful to you and all my readers that shared their thoughts here. There is so much we can learn from one another… And what a great way to start your day with a smile :)love it ❤️
Was just having a lunch we some friends, and we spoke about being grateful that we are still able to work and give back during this difficult times. We have to all count our blessings.
Thank you for sharing the blind spots – Greed and Ego.
I’m learning to stop and smell the flowers.
Yeah Viv, it is so important to stop and appreciate what is in front of us, thank you so much for sharing your insights!
Hi
Very true “ The Beauty Of Being A Grateful Human Being“
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow….
We all should be grateful for everything what we have – from every situation in life we learn either it’s good or bad experience….
Once we start being grateful towards all situation – we see more positives in life
Thank you for sharing nice article
Regards,
Kunjal
Hi Kunjal, great added insights..thank you so much for sharing your valuable thoughts !