I recently came across a story which goes like this…
“A poor blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a placard (sign) on display, which said: “I am blind, please help.” There were only a few coins in his hat.
A gentleman, who was walking by, took few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat of that blind boy. He then took the placard, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the placard back to its place so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.
Soon the hat began to fill up with coins. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the words of placard came to see, how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, “Are you the one who put changes in my placard this morning? What did you write? “
The man said, “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.” I wrote: “This world around you is so beautiful, you can see it, but I can’t see.”
The moral from the story one can get is- The first sign simply said the boy was blind. While the second sign told people that they are so lucky that they are not blind.
Sometimes the most simplest things in life are the ones that can give us true happiness. Taking those few minutes to become aware of the here and now and being grateful for what is there at your disposal can go a long way in leading us towards living a happier life. It can alleviate our mood, help us focus on things that matter and stop taking things for granted.
Here are 5 ways in which you can cultivate an attitude of gratitude!
1.Pause and Reflect
The first step towards this goal is to pause and reflect by asking yourself: What can I be grateful for in my life today? Who is the person/ people that I can be grateful to have in my life? and why? Please be aware to not repeat the same things or person too often. Instead, try to think of more things and people you can be grateful for in your life.
2.Look within
Don’t just look outward, look inward. Looking inwards and becoming more aware about yourself can help boost self-confidence. Ask yourself: What are the things I can be grateful for about myself today? Please note that self-gratitude needn’t just be about achievements but can be about who you are being as a person too.
3.Size doesn’t matter
Don’t just focus on the big and obvious things you can be grateful for. Become aware of very small things you can be grateful for too- a plant on your desk, a fruit you eat, smell of a flower etc. Ask yourself: What is one very small thing that I can be grateful for today? What is one thing I may have been taking for granted that I can be grateful for?
4.Setup a daily ritual
No! we are not talking about anything religious here. We are talking about making the gratitude habit to stick and not just become one of those things you forget about or abandon after a few days effort! The best times to do this would be to spend couple of minutes in the morning before you start your end and couple of minutes at night before you hit the bed. Use a journal to write down all things you are grateful about daily.
5.Express openly
It’s important that we are not just becoming aware of what we are grateful towards but are also expressing it openly through a text, an email, a call or in person. Make other people happier too – and help them to perhaps pay it forward later on – by expressing how they are grateful for having things and people in their lives.
The more things that we find to be grateful for the more things will come into our lives to be grateful for. Our focus on the positive things in our life will bring more positive things into our life.
What are you grateful about today?
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