The Stages of Gratitude

Recently I have noticed that my awareness of my gratitude has lessened and coincidentally so has my overall positivity and outlook on life.

I decided to take a moment to understand what true gratitude means and the importance it will have in my life moving forward.

The definition of gratitude is; The quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

I asked myself, “to what extent am I being truly thankful?”

It became apparent there is a deeper level of appreciation that I was not committing to.  This deeper level of appreciation is restricting me from fully living in the moment and truly valuing everything around me and my awareness to what is in this world.

This thought was solidified with a deeper thought.  Do I acknowledge the true details of everything I am thankful for in my life?  Am I truly thankful for the moments my family lends an empathetic ear or my children joyfully choose me to reveal their latest creation they have made from their toys?

When I acknowledge and accept being grateful that my family wants to include me in their life, that my children want to share an accomplishment they are proud of with me, that is the real moment when I am truly thankful.

How would my day change if I were to acknowledge and embrace seeing the radiant glimmer of the sun shining in the sky as it rises in the morning and hearing the sounds of nature communicating to seize another day.  As I envision these details I am instantly inspired….and thankful.

True gratitude and the deepening effect it has in our lives is not dependent on our circumstances.  It is the many connections we are thankful for that make up the world around us.

Recently I was in the passenger seat of a truck accompanying a gracious young man who agreed to help me pull my camping trailer to our new campsite which will be located in a campground two and half hours away.  We shared stories of life experiences and mutually took interest in our individual travels to other countries throughout our lives.

One particular detail from his travels triggered an emotional thought which provoked great meaning towards being grateful.

His trip brought him to the country of Nicaragua.  He continually emphasized “being aware” of the culture, talking to locals, and taking in all the fine details from the countryside, houses, people and extravagance of flavour in the foods.

The true detail was in the unfortunate moment when he missed his flight home.  A short disappointment of having to spend more money to return home was superseded by a magnificent sunset from a rooftop pool overlooking the valley below with no distractions or others to deter that moment.  He proudly exclaimed, “It was well worth the $ 500 I had to pay for a new plane ticket to fly home.  It was definitely a $ 500 sunset!”

If I think about that story and absorb the true meaning, I can comprehend that to have a deep appreciation of the many details and moments in our lives brings an unwilting happiness.

We recognize what we are thankful for, but do we acknowledge it?  Do we take the moment we are given to truly appreciate it?

Gratitude is selfless.  When we acknowledge what we are grateful for we begin to create a greater understanding of what connections are formed.  We can fully embrace our existence and return the reciprocity that we are alive and contribute to the world in our own way.