“Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.”
—Zig Ziglar

I could barely sleep last week or so. They say, dreams are something that don’t let you sleep, and I’ve been living a dream all this while, without me having the slightest of hint. Over the weekend, I caught up with all the sleep of the previous week, and had most of my issues resolved in the vivid dreams. A person like me, sleeping for 20-25 hours in a span of 36 hours is nothing less than a wonder. Something unheard of. But the dream I’m living currently, demands all of the wonderment and blessings coming my way.

A good friend wisely said this morning, how each moment and each day, healing is taken as a compound interest and we notice we’re growing exponentially. It reminded me of the emotional consciousness scale in the book ‘Power vs Force’. It indeed is an exponential growth, logarithmic actually! Assuming we being the normal human beings that we are, where do we seek the greatest of the emotions accessible to us?

‘Love’ has probably been the most overused and abused terminology and emotion we’ve been using as a society as a whole. We fleetingly say we love something, without really meaning it or feeling it deep within. What really goes unnoticed is the feeling of thankfulness that we ought to feel towards the things around us. Frankly I’ve been oblivious to this hidden gem for the longest time possible, and it only recently I’m beginning to realise the power of this potent emotion. The emotion that can literally move mountains. Gratitude is the emotion we seldom acknowledge or feel deep within. Or take a pause to deliberately feel.

Gratitude journals are quite in vogue lately, thanks to the self-help, self-improvement community. So many of the high achievers swear by this act of spending a few moments each night, before sleeping to express gratitude towards the things that took place during the course of the day. How often do we step back and reflect upon the life that rushes by in a blink of an eye? We surely do seek moments, if not long ones, to make sure we put to notice all the things that are going wrong in our life. But what about the things that have been going right? Day after day, every day? For so many years!

I remembered the injury I suffered, five years ago. Feels like a nightmare that didn’t really happen. So many simple day to day events we take for granted. Only to realise one fine day, when our body refuses to cooperate, and suddenly out of nowhere all hell breaks loose. I could barely even convey what was happening inside me, for I myself wasn’t aware. A fine body going pretty well till the day before, stops to cooperate. Now, whenever I think of those times (even right now), I feel deep sense of gratitude for all the organs in my body working smoothly, cooperating with each other. Not trying to act naughty and each one running in a different direction. It takes a havoc to notice the blessings we’ve gotten used to in our life.

Did we feel grateful for the sunrise, that which we forgot to witness this morning? Or the trees that exhaled out the oxygen ready for us to breathe? How about the gravity that holds us in place, and not leave us floating around randomly, just like our thoughts in the thin air? Did we feel grateful for the childhood when we were taken care of, by our loving parents or our caretakers? How about them helping in our education, now that you’re able to read this article? Do we feel grateful for the marvel of life, when we play with a little child? Do we feel grateful to witness the giggles of the baby, that fill up the room with joy? Ever wondered what it feels like, chasing a butterfly, being an adult? Isn’t it something to be grateful for, to preserve a tiny little child in our heart, who is often grappled? Do we feel grateful for the array of tastes our tongue can experience, whenever we’re devouring a delicious meal, over a lunch or dinner date? Have you expressed the gratitude towards the nagging partner that we’ve had, who simply cannot stop caring for us, how much ever we push them away? Do we feel grateful for the people in our life, who regularly check on how we’re doing? Who really wait to listen to the answer. Do we feel content with the things we have an access to? Do we really feel grateful for the next breath we’re about to inhale? And many more such questions often keep my mind busy contemplating.

In this fast paced life, whenever I sit myself down to write in my journal, I’m often tempted to complain about the things going wrong in my life. The recent twenty one day challenge of not complaining has opened me up to my self talk. Even though I know many of the sixty thousand thoughts go unnoticed, I have definitely started picking up the emotional residue they leave behind. And know exactly where I need to be focusing on. Gratitude has a ripple effect, even when we don’t say it out loud. The thing or the person can feel it deep within. And that is the whole beauty of it. We often overlook the potent energy of witnessing a sunrise that sets a tone for the day. Or simply waking up with a smile on our face.

The way we experience falling in love with another person, we wish to shower upon them all the goodness in this world. For they’re the centre of attraction for us. The moment the love is reciprocated, the equation seems to get all the more interesting. This is when gratitude sets in its most powerful foot in. We’ve seldom been taught to be genuinely grateful for the things coming our way. Listen to me very carefully here. We can surely feel grateful for all that we can look and feel around. But how do we feel gratitude for the good that we’re anticipating? The same way, but being in tune with the vibration disc we wish to hop onto. After reading and processing a good amount of information, I’m learning to experience what feeling grateful for the invisible things feels like. All the manifestation that may sound mumbo jumbo is quite a fascinating world, once we start to delve deeper into it, and taste its sweet fruits. This realm is as fascinating as it gets. I promise!

The fascinating part is when we start to observe synchronicities on this path. All the more, when we come face to face with mishaps and chaos on the way. Something that often sets us thinking if we’re doing it all right, or have lost our way? But the Source energy, the Universe or God, by whichever name you view the Energy, always looks at us with regards to the bigger picture. Never an event in isolation. With so much love, and only love for each one of us. This is where the real wonder sets in. How does one feel grateful for the Higher Power, when innumerable hurdles that we witness in our day to day life? Often times than not, in hindsight the darkest times in our lives were when our gears being shifted. Something that put us right on the track that we desired to be on, which lead us here. Just think for a moment, the ordeal you’re going through in life currently, is trying to prepare you for something that you’ve dearly been asking for, since a while now. How does it make you feel? Maybe a little hopeful than a moment ago?

You key past the door to abundance, is nothing but a heart that is grateful. This key, is often found when we’ve not been looking for, right in the corner of our heart.

“Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”
—Charles Dickens