The word “Gratitude” has long been related with a softened version of the disposition of a person. Somewhere in the back of our mind, “gratitude” means submission and its various derivatives. The concept of gratitude is not new, but its truest spirit is still eluding.
Gratitude VS Thankfulness
Before writing this article, I googled ‘gratitude’ to find what the world has to say about it. The best I could infer: the phrase ‘Thank you’ metamorphosed into gratitude.
So…what is the difference?
‘Gratitude’ is a state of being, rather than an experience of spiked emotion in response to a favor done. Both the words belong to the same ‘family’ of expression of feeling, but the state of ‘gratitude’ is more engulfing.
We can live in a state of gratitude if we can bring our consciousness and awareness to the abundance that we live in, in every moment of our lives.
I understand that this idea of being ‘thankful-for-all-that-we-eat-and-breathe’ is overused. But hopefully, the threat to these very basics, brought in by the pandemic, has ushered in some perspective—taking the basics we have for granted is not the way to live. If we are blessed with a glass of clean drinking water, we need to wholeheartedly feel gratitude in the knowledge that millions of people across the globe don’t even have that much. Once that awareness seeps into our everyday life and mundane activities, we will start living in the expanse of the Universe.
How can gratitude become a power tool?
Our instincts constantly point out things that are not working and need fixing. This orients us to what is wrong and overshadows what is right.
Operating from the state of ‘what is wrong’, crunches our mindset in a rather ugly fashion. We are constantly in a fight-or-flight mode.
If we can elevate our presence to the state of living-in-gratitude, we allow ourselves to align to abundance. When we operate from that state, our thoughts, actions, and decision-making ability become immensely powerful.
In the ‘state of gratitude’, our mind always associates itself with positive, life-affirming, and progressive thoughts and vocabulary. It’s an inclusive state of being—like a big hug from the Universe and all within.
When we live in a state of gratitude, we are already dwelling in a place where we feel surrounded by love and possibility. That is a very powerful place to be in. When in the lap of gratitude, everything is a possibility. We see more doors open than close and more things bloom than wither.
If you talk to people who are successful, you will notice that they are mostly happy. Their decision-making ability is spot-on, as they can cut through the unproductive chatter of the mind. They have a knack for seeing possibilities even in the worst situations. Now, all this is possible because they are infinitely grateful for what they have and therefore can build what little they lack.
I would like to invite you to practice being in the state of Gratitude for 21 days and see what happens. Observe how it elevates you to your powerful self and connects you to your core of possibility.
