Why Should we be Grateful?
Once a valiant Soldier who was well-known for his valour, lost his feet while fighting for his Country, on the Battlefield. He was awarded the prestigious Bravery Award by the State and was blessed with profusion. Even though he had lost his wife, few years ago, he was fortunate to have a loving son and started living a peaceful life in his village. The son looked upon his father as his role model. He served his father wholeheartedly with utmost love and affection. Both father-son shared a beautiful bond of not just parent-child but more than that, of best friends. However, due to the tragic occurrence, the soldier became irritable and confined to the bed. As time passed, the soldier started finding faults, criticizing and abusing his son over petty issues, even though the son served his father selflessly at the cost of his own health and life. The son silently suffered every humiliation. After few months, the son became emotionally shattered. He considered himself to be the cause of grief to his father, and when he could not endure his father's piercing words anymore, the son left his body.
This sudden grave loss came as a shock to the soldier. While he sat on the bed, uncontrollably wailing in front of his son's lifeless corpse, he blamed and cursed God.The soldier was all through his life a very pious soul. Moved by his devotion and sincere cry, the Lord appeared. He exclaimed, "O ignorant one! Why do you lament the death of your son now? When he was alive, you magnified his mistakes but seldom appreciated his unalloyed love towards you". The soldier realized his blunder. Shedding tears of sorrow, he asked forgiveness and begged the Lord to return his son back to life. The all-merciful Lord fulfilled the intense desire of his pure devotee by granting the soldier this boon and gave the gift of life to his son. Overjoyed, the soldier tightly embraced his son, and from that very moment began cultivating the attitude of gratitude.
The Essence
We are faced with myriad circumstances in our lives which continuously oscillate like a pendulum - between success and failure, good and bad, happiness and distress, health and disease, peace and war, honour and dishonour, victory and defeat, frustration and pleasure, love and hatred. How we respond to these situations reflects our attitude and shapes our character. Our character is moulded by our behaviour, our thoughts, our actions, that, over a period of time, eventually become our habit. Habit in turn governs our quality of existence. When we cultivate the immaculate habit to be grateful under any given set of conditions, we emerge victorious, we are able to overcome miseries, we get the strength to transcend the ropes of material bondage. Gratitude empowers us to break free from the shackles of egoistic pride and conditioning that binds us to our self-limiting beliefs.
The Spiritual Perspective
From a spiritual perspective, we must optimally utilise every moment as an opportunity to take shelter of the Divine and trust His higher plan for each one of us. When we suffer blows, we must thank God for giving us lesser obstacles or discounted sorrows than what we truly deserve. When we are blessed with abundance, we must again thank God for showering us with more happiness or success than we actually deserve. When we completely surrender to our Creator, when we absorb our minds and senses in chanting His glories, when we render unalloyed devotional service; we become eligible to receive His causeless mercy. Thus, by acknowledging the existence of a Higher power and by invoking Divine blessings, we are able to imbibe the powerful characteristic called gratitude. Gratitude is like the root of the tree which further helps us grow branches of kindness, humility, tolerance and patience. All these are pivotal elements that aid us in radically transforming our lives to achieve real success.
Golden Keys to Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude
G - Give up all Negativity and Self Limiting Beliefs
R - Recognize and Remember all Positive Elements
A - Appreciate People Around and Every Moment of Life
T - Trust our Creator and Have Faith in Him
I - Imbibe the Spirit of Being Thankful - Count Your Blessings
T - Treasure the Virtues of Compassion, Humility, Tolerance and Patience
U - Utilize every Opportunity to take Shelter of the Divine
D - Discover Transcendental Bliss in Purifying Consciousness
E - Empathize, Empower and Exercise this Wisdom Everyday
Conclusion
Let me share my personal realization to ascertain how we can lay the foundation to develop this noble quality. Since childhood my mother has always taught me to be grateful for everything that comes our way. She opened my eyes to a beautiful world that can be carved when we magnify the positive facets, when we open our hearts to people around us, when we express appreciation for even the smallest of things. We must feel fortunate for the air we breathe, for the rising sun, for the chirping birds, for the food we honor, for the obstacles we may have to face, for the joys, the sorrows, the laughter, the tears.
I am deeply indebted to my mother for sharing this precious wisdom, which has not only helped me transform my outlook towards life but is helping thousands of my counsel-seekers globally. Our immediate circumstances may not always seem favorable but we must seek to comprehend the inconceivable higher plan of the Supreme Being in every situation. When we anoint our eyes with the tinge of gratitude, when we return kindness, it brightens our entire existence, it qualifies us to become recipients of unconditional love of God, so that we envision the path to eternal bliss and reach the pinnacle of success.
Article by:
Meghna Choudhury (H.G. Mathura Vasi Devi Dasi)
Life Coach | Spiritual Counselor | Author
For Complimentary Articles, Videos, Podcasts, Power-Quotes & more...
Subscribe to Website: http://meghnachoudhury.wixsite.com/life-coach
Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meghna.choudhury
For Coaching/ Suggestions/ Feedback, Email: mvdd.gkg@gmail.com
***** Content Copyright: Meghna Choudhury (H.G. Mathura Vasi Devi Dasi) *****
No comments:
Post a Comment