Attitude or Gratitude ?
How do you feel when someone says the magic words ‘thank you’, for something routine that you did? It definitely makes you feel good, it in fact it adds a glow to your face and you continue your work a shade happier than you were earlier. You may just have been doing the job that you are paid for e.g., counting and handing over cash at your desk. Still when someone says ‘thank you’ it makes you feel good. Why is this so? For one, the words acknowledge your presence and contribution to the other’s needs. And when your presence is acknowledged and in this instance a person is grateful for your presence and your actions, it is bound to make you feel good.Now reflect upon yourself and how you go through your day. Are you thankful enough towards all those people who contribute to your life in several ways? On looking inwards you may to your horror realise that there are many instances that you just take for granted. Let us take a typical scenario at home - the morning rush hour at home when students and office goers leave for their respective organisations. Assuming that all are carrying lunch boxes - does anyone thank the mother who toiled in the kitchen to prepare them? Many a time the answer is - no.
It is true that such services within the family are performed without expecting anything in return. Still your expressing thanks acknowledges their presence and makes them feel needed. Is this not the least that you can do for your loved ones? The same goes for your father, siblings, grandparents and any extended family and friends you interact with on a daily basis.
It helps you too When you express a feeling of thanksgiving, a positive act is performed not just for others but for yourself too. It helps you keep things in perspective and acknowledge your many blessings. In today’s stressful life people easily fall prey to negative moods like dissatisfaction, irritability and worse depression. Such negative feelings can be kept at bay consciously when you interact with others and acknowledge the interaction.
Let us take an example. Are you feeling irritated because your train has been delayed? Do you want to snap out of that mood? Do it consciously by looking for something pleasant to focus your attention on. Look around, focus on the smiling face of an infant and feel the smile spread over your face too. Obviously you cannot walk across and thank the baby but you can acknowledge its contribution. When you take the focus away from the irritant in this manner, it ceases to hold the all-important place in your thoughts and automatically ceases to irritate you further with the same intensity.
If you weave an attitude that reflects gratitude towards all positive things that you see around yourself, you will undoubtedly have a fulfilling and happy day. The focus will shift towards what you have and what you have received rather than towards what you do not have. And a happier state of mind makes a person perform better, as a result of which with better productivity you will have more things and instances to be thankful about. So go ahead and spread the message of gratitude by example - express gratitude whenever possible; add a smile to someone’s face and to yours too.
posted by Deeps @ 5/30/2005 01:31:00 PM
