Gratitude

My virtue focus this week is on gratitude so it might be worth while to stand still for a moment and ponder the significance of living in gratitude. It is a concept that has slowly matured for me towards a much riper fruit to eat. I heard of a practice where one write at the end of the day all the things you were truly grateful, date the entry and put it in a jar. Later one can open the jar and read all the gratitude entries. The gratitude referenced is not the type where you think about a constant like family and express your gratitude for them even though it might be valuable. The gratitude is for when you are given some blessing or receive some unexpected joy from something you have not expected. The purpose of this exercise is twofold…firstly to create an awareness of the blessings you received but also to train the subconscious mind to focus more acutely on the joys that is bestowed upon oneself. Gratitude does not need to wait for something huge to happen but it could be in the small things that gives momentarily joy. The exercise of gratitude is training the subconscious mind to rebuilt its trust in life and to be aware of the benevolence within nature. The repetitive expression of gratitude creates a habit to see that which is valuable in life and to put a proper value to it. On an spiritual alchemical level it is the transformation of small temporary events of happiness through gratitude into a life style of appreciation and long lasting joy. Each expression of gratitude lifts ones emotional standard level of well being a notch higher than before. When we experience some misfortune we will naturally balance back to that point we have set up on a higher level of satisfaction with life. So gratitude when express contributes directly to one’s own level of well being even if one has to initially force the awareness of gratitude. When we receive an unexpected blessing then gratitude is expressed with sincerity but if that blessing becomes a pattern and a flow of good we receive our gratitude lessons and it becomes something we just take for granted. The virtue of gratitude however ensures that we continue to evaluate and we use our reason constructively to see the things that are truly valuable. W do not get used to things but examine each thing to warrant our unbiased gratefulness where it is due. In summary gratitude provides a deeper sense of self-worth when we emerge ourselves in a world of abundant blessings. We are sensitised to the beauty of a world that often seems hostile and yet if we look closer we might see that even hostility is a blessing in disguise. When we can see all we experience in through the perspective of gratitude we have so much more energy for the day of tomorrow and a constancy in our step. I thank the universe sincerely for life today.