Is changing my perspective in so many ways. Now, I believe it. As you may know, I'm a big fan of reading from those who are very successful and still have their feet on earth. All of the guys who I read from recommend one thing to have a tremendous life. That one thing is to cultivate the virtue of
gratitude. Gratitude. Gratitude!. Charlie Tremendous Jones, one of my mentors, puts it like this: "The first sign of greatness is thankfulness. The first sign is smallness is thanklessness. An attitude of gratitude flavors everything you've worked for". Wooohoo! Yikes! What a way of things! Now, I could see this quote in two ways:
"Why didn't I or why don't people choose to be thankful"? Or I could say
"I'm quite thankful for this quote. Time to spread it out!". Which way do you think will put you in more productive state?
Oprah Winfrey puts it this way
"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough". Charles Dickens has a more poetic way of saying it:
"Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some". Both are or were extremely successful. Ok, enough with the quotes. I'm going to be a bit self-righteous and tell you a bit about myself and what I've been experiencing since I've been adopting the virtue of gratitude. Oh boy! Oh boy!
When you look for something long enough, you'll eventually find it. Therefore, I encourage you to find good things in absolutely all the things that happen to you. On some occasions, it will take a little more to find that something. You can find a book in your room, but it will be harder to find the pair of panties one ex left when they are mixed with all the other panties other girls left you! From the same perspective, it will be harder to find the good in those things that look negative in every way. Let's begin with the the rain. Yesterday, an unexpected rain took place in Long Beach, while someone might say "This rain got me completely wet". A person who finds the good in the bad would say "Perfect chance to establish a conversation with a stranger who also got wet!". And you tell me, could you and that person connect at a very deep level? You bet you could! And that's exactly what I did. I didn't really connect with this person, but the conversation was cool enough. Ad we both got a laugh out of it. Can this happen for you? Sure, it can.
Some goods that are found in bads have a higher price to them. But I assure, they are worth the effort. When I came to this country, the tears on my mother's face stayed in my head. The little white lie I told my beloved brother also stayed in my mind. All I could think of "Why? I should just go back". It took me a while to find the good in the bad for this situation, but now that I'm here, writing this, inspiring and leading and working with dozens of souls. I find myself thankful for the event that changed my life. I find myself being thankful for my mother's tears and efforts. I find myself thankful for my father helping me with my tuition in University, for if I didn't have it, I wouldn't grow and enjoy as much. More than anything, I find myself grateful simply by the mere fact of LEARNING to be thankful, of learning that learning is doable. How many people go through life without learning that learning all things are within their reach? Plenty! Be thankful you're not one of them! But also, be thankful that you're one of those that ARE learning.
I don't know how to put this. Knowing that you're learning to be thankful is quite an awesome feeling. It changes your perspective in all things and you can't help but to say: "Silly me! How come I didn't see that before?" I'll give you another example. Crimson Lena is a girl that is a couple of thousand miles away from me right now. This girl makes me smile out of the blue and even blush. While I don't believe in long distance dating, we have promised each other that we would meet. It's tough for both of us. I can't fly because of legal reasons. She can't fly because her means don't meet her ends. Did that discourage me? It sure did. But one night, oh ONE NIGHT, I realized how this tiny red head british woman had taught me to believe and in an instant I became thankful for that. In that very instant, I raised my head, faced the sky, and asked that all goods forever be with her. Since that day, she has remained in my heart day and night. But aha! she had been there the entire time, I just hadn't seen it. My lack of gratitude back then had blocked her. What a wonderful thing to be thankful!
What are you thankful for? Without wanting to interrupt you I would say the very first thing you shall be thankful for is being alive. As of right now, someone may be dying, but it's not you. Doesn't that make you feel thankful? If it doesn't. You shall think on checking your pulse - You may be dead. The second thing I would be thankful off top of my head is having complete use of all my senses. My hearing, my touch, my vision and so on. You are privileged to appreciate all the good things in life. Last semester while I sat waiting for the bus. A young man sat next to me and asked me to let him know when a certain bus number came by. Soon enough I realized this man was blind. I was moved. I got in the same bus as him and begin talking with him. He had the balls to tell me my accent was heavy and ask me if I was latino (Haha), after that I found out he had just passed his Calculus 2 class. If you've ever taken Calculus, then you KNOW how much you need your eyes. That young man changed my life. And guess what? I'm thankful for it. If i ever run into him again, I'll buy him dinner and what not.
You see, I believe two things. One is that there are countless things to be thankful for. And two is that the best way of showing your gratitude is by giving. Now, let me make this clear. Give without expecting to receive. You know that saying "Give and you will receive!" Don't believe it! Because it may twist your mind and have you expect something in return every time you give something. Giving to receive is not giving - it's trading!. Realize that when you give, you're automatically receiving. What are you receiving? You're receiving the strength that it takes to give. That on its own is a very powerful tool.
So, my friend, this article comes to an end. I hope you've enjoyed and that you're thankful for getting the chance to read it. For the computer that you're sitting on. For your vision. For being able to think as you read. For anything that you can think on. As for now, I have to go study for a very complicated exam coming up. One that I'm thankful for, because I know that it will challenge me to be disciplined and exclude anything that may take me away from my goal: Passing the damn exam
Wish you all the best, brothers!
Incorporating Gratitude In My Life...
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