There’s a general recurring theme that I’ve noticed over the past couple of months and it’s about living with a heart full of gratitude and thankfulness. I’m reminded of this lesson everywhere I look.. in the books I’ve read, the posts on Facebook, the videos I’ve seen, the sermon in church and even the conversations I’ve had with people have served to remind me of this very important lesson. The universe is telling me something it would seem.
It’s a challenging idea because it goes beyond just simply saying thanks for when things go right, but having a genuine appreciation of things when it seems that nothing is going right. At a time when the inflow of rejection emails slowly erode at my confidence and when it’s so easy to get dejected and feel sorry for myself, this is exactly the kind of thing I needed to be reminded of.
It’s difficult to keep this perspective in a society where our egos are regularly stroked to convince us that we are entitled to certain things in our lives.. we deserve to have a certain standard of living, I am entitled to a good job after I graduate from university, I deserve a decent education and quality healthcare at an affordable price, I work so hard I’m entitled to a big pay raise.
Do these sound like fair and reasonable requests to you? I mean, you pay your taxes, you worked hard at university and at work. If you went to a restaurant and it cost you $50-100 for a meal it’d be reasonable to expect a certain quality of food and service right?
I’m realising that it is this kind of mentality and sense of entitlement that leads us to get angry or upset when things don’t go our way and protest the unfairness of life. It’s easy to lose perspective and forget how lucky we really are.
How lucky I am that I can afford to pay taxes and to live in a country where taxes aren’t siphoned away by corruption. How lucky I am that I can vote and that it will count. How lucky I am that I can afford to spend $50-100 on a meal at a fancy restaurant or that I was able to get a decent education and a decent job. Once I understand that this sense of entitlement is misguided, how can I not be grateful?
So lately, I’ve been trying to keep things in perspective and be grateful that I am where I am now. I’m grateful for wonderful friends and family, I’m grateful for each breath I take and each smile I receive, I’m grateful that I can still play sports and I can admire the glorious sunset on a summer’s evening. As I watch the news tonight, it’s all bad news and there’s a lot of bad stuff happening. I have to wonder if these things are happening to remind us of how good we actually got it. Call it god, call it fate or the universe talking or just pure coincidence. It’s a lesson we can all take from life.
