Thank You, Thank You, Thank You; The Universe Loves Gratitude
"I have noticed that the Universe loves gratitude. The more grateful you are, the more goodies you get. When I say ‘goodies,’ I don’t mean only material things. I mean all the people, places, and experiences that make life so wonderfully worth living.”
Louise L. Hay
Human beings often tend to be ungrateful. We find it very easy to find faults, how our parents could have done a better job, how God could have given us better opportunities and circumstances, how the boss could have been nicer, how our siblings could have had less rivalry and so on. How often do we thank people around us for the small and big favors they have done, for the love and kindness they have shown, the sweet memories which they left with us and so on.
Benjamin Franklin says, “Most people return small favors, acknowledge medium ones and repay greater ones -- with ingratitude." How many times do we thank God, our parents, our teachers, our friends or whoever has done something for us. It is sad but we invite unhappiness and suffering in our life by not being grateful. Showing gratitude and appreciation is the best way of aligning ourselves with the universe, to invite miracles in our life. Dr Daisaku Ikeda, Buddhist leader says, “We must never forget to repay our debt of gratitude we owe our parents, teacher and country.”
Ralph Marston says, “Express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you'll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you'll find that you have more of it.” If you are grateful, the universe will give you more and more. But if you are grateful only to get more, the universe will judge, it’s not gratitude but greed. Samuel Johnson rightly says, “Gratitude is a fruit of great cultivation; you do not find it among gross people.” Only civilized people have gratitude, not the animalistic beings. People whose hearts are full of gratitude and appreciation are truly beautiful.
Nichiren Daishonin gives some examples of high level of gratitude in the buddhist teachings called Gosho. “The old fox never forgets the hillock where he was born; the white turtle repaid the kindness he had received from Mao Pao. If even lowly creatures know enough to do this, then how much more should human beings! Thus Yu Jang, a worthy man of old, fell on his sword in order to repay the debt he owed his lord Chih Po, and the minister Hung Yen for similar reasons cut open his stomach and inserted the liver of his dead lord, Duke Yi of Wei.”
Gratitude is a very powerful tool to uplift human spirit. Never underestimate the fuel you give the human spirit when you take time to give the gift of acknowledgement. As Nithya Shanti suggests, take a vow today, “I choose to make this a 100% complaint free day. I choose to fill this day with appreciation and gratitude. And that is why this is the happiest day of my life. And so it is.”
In a workshop conducted by Landmark Forum, the well known life skills company from US, the participants were told, “Your parents were only supposed to procreate and anything else they have done is a bonus.”
“The grateful mind is constantly fixed upon the best; therefore, it tends to become the best.” - Wallace D Wattles
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