What is Gratitude?
Personally, I think that many people don't really understand what gratitude really is.
How many times have we heard things like "He's not grateful for the money I gave him!" or "She's not grateful for this or that that I have done for them!"?
First of all, we have no way of knowing the gratitude that the receiver feels in these situations, but I can tell you this much, if you are making statements like the ones above, you are not giving freely or with an open heart!
Some people have a hard time expressing gratitude outwardly.
Sometimes all you will receive in return is a simple thank you when inside the recipient of your good deed is welling up and ready to burst into tears of gratitude.
We are trained to hold our emotions in, including the ones of gratitude!
When you give a gift, be thankful that you can!
When you give of yourself don't look for anything in return.
Be satisfied in knowing that you have done the right thing, that your blessing has helped another and you will be blessed in return, maybe not the way you expect it, but you will be.
Gratitude comes from within, it is an appreciation of all that is good and welcome in our lives. Gratitude is expressed when we openly give thanks for those things.
When someone does something for us we are trained to say, "Thank you", but how often do we really feel the thank you that we are giving?
Think back to a time when you were just so overwhelmed with something someone had done for you and you just had to blurt out a thank you.
That feeling of thanks, of gratitude, could not be contained.
If you were to stop and feel the thank you each time you gave it, you would be living in gratitude.
If you were to stop and feel how much you love and enjoy any little thing in your life, you would be living in gratitude.
Some people think that gratitude has to go deeper than giving thanks for the "things" in our lives and be more spiritual.
I say that every little thing in your life that gives you even the slightest bit of joy, every little thing that makes your day a little easier is worthy of true gratitude.
True gratitude is spiritual and fills the heart with warmth and joy!
When you can stop and say,
"I really do love my coffee pot! It brews me a wonderful cup of coffee and I enjoy every sip! If it wasn't for that coffee pot I may not have such a great cup of coffee!",
and truly feel the love and appreciation for the coffee pot, the coffee beverage and even the cup you are holding, to feel the joy that those things bring into your life, that my dear friends, that is feeling gratitude!
