Road BeingChapterPeaceto5.Grateful for Kindness and Grace
Section 1 Gratitude Section 2 Gratitude and Peace Section 3 Gratefulness and Peace that Begins with Me Being Grateful for Kindness and Grace Chapter 5
Overview Gratitude is one of the peace-based values that can contribute to world peace. Gratitude first begins by recognizing the grace we have already received. For example, we can be grateful for the lives our parents gave to us and the air that we breathe every day. Practicing gratitude helps us not only to be stronger physically but also to overcome difficult situations and form good relationships. However, it is not easy to always feel gratitude. Such obstacles include our pride in not acknowledging help from others, our greed for more, etc. Therefore, it is important to build a habit of gratitude, whether it is through a gratitude diary or letters of gratitude to others. Furthermore, as expressing gratitude often to the people around you is a good way to create a habit of gratitude, formal expressions of gratitude also help form friendly relations between organizations and countries and promote peace. Let’s make peace from within individuals through gratitude and expand peace to society and nation.
Marcus Tullius Cicero (Roman statesman and philosopher, 106 BC-43 BC)
Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.
1) Gratitude: To recognize the grace we have received The hard work and dedication of many people is contained in things given to us voluntarily such as an environment for education, meals, and medicine to take when sick. Let’s think of what our family, society, country, and nature have given us. The earth provides an environment where all forms of life can live unconditionally through water, air, and light. However, that’s not all that the earth has to offer. The enormous mass of the earth pulls all objects towards the center of the earth, and this force is gravity. Gravity, which we are so familiar with, creates an environment where all living things can live. Gravity helps us keep our feet on the ground, recognize where the top is by the weight when we lift our arms and comfortably sleep while lying down. When we go to space, we quickly realize the importance of gravity, which we take for granted. When Section #
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1. What is gratitude?
What is gratitude, and why is it needed?
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Gratitude1
1 space.aspxafter-months-in-astronauts-shrink-of-space-station-25-spinal-muscles-Pages/2016-10-edu/news/releases/https://health.ucsd.
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, studied the NASA astronauts who worked a long time on the International Space Station and found that the size of the paraspinal muscles used to support and move the spine had decreased 19% compared to before flight.1) Interestingly, about ⅔ of the muscle reduction was restored after returning to earth, demonstrating how gravity on earth creates an environment where all life forms can live. In addition to gravity, nature provides us with conditions we need to live free of cost, which we cannot make through our strength and efforts. What is the process like until the precious life of a person is born? The fetus develops by receiving oxygen and nutrients through the umbilical cord connected to the mother. It is also when a change occurs in the mother’s health, and after two months of pregnancy, the mother experiences morning sickness, nausea, and vomiting. After approximately six months, the mother commonly experiences back pain due to the enlargement of the lower abdomen or swelling of hands and feet due to varicose veins. At nine to ten months, when childbirth is near, the enlarged uterus puts pressure on the mother’s lungs and heart, causing shortness of breath with even the slightest movements and hip and pelvic pain when walking. The mother describes the pain as equivalent to
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you lie down in outer space in a state of zero gravity, you feel as though your body is being pulled towards the ceiling. It may appear fun in science fiction movies to see people floating and flying in the air, but it will not be enjoyable when you actually experience it. When you are in outer space, a strong movement of bodily fluid makes you feel like you are standing upside down. Furthermore, due to the state of zero gravity, your bones and muscles will become weak, and the body becomes lethargic.
breaking 20 bones simultaneously during childbirth. We are all born through this process. For myself to be born, my mother endured the sacrifices for ten months. Therefore, we can’t help but be grateful for the grace of our parents.
71. Gratitude
When people are asked to find things they are thankful for, they typically think of a newly acquired object or a particular situation. However, gratitude for possessions and achievements is short-lived, and the feeling of contentment quickly changes.
Being grateful begins with remembering the grace that we have received. How often do we take the benefits of life for granted and forget to be grateful? Helen Adams Keller, who suffered a fever when she was 18 months and lost both her eyesight and hearing, said: “I have always thought it would be a blessing if each person could be blind and deaf for a few days during his early adult life. Darkness would make him appreciate sight silence would teach him the joys of sound.”
Hellen Keller desired to see even for just three days. And if able, she hoped to see the face of her precious teacher, Johanna Mansfield Sullivan Macy, and the beauty of nature. Reflecting on all the things we have taken for granted and overlooked, we realize there are so many things given to us without conditions from our parents, family, neighbors, society, country, and nature. Sincere gratitude begins with realizing the grace we have received free of cost through the sacrifice and efforts of others.
2. The benefits of gratitude
2 Candace B. Pert, Molecules of Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine (1999)
A heart of gratitude promotes your health by first impacting the human body. We can understand this through our immune system, which defends the body from foreign invaders. When an intruder such as bacteria enters the body, white blood cells detect and attack it. After the white blood cells fight off the infection, inflammation remains to prevent its spread. However, if the inflammation is very severe, death may occur. What is interesting is that white blood cells respond to people’s emotions. An American neuroscientist Candice B. Pert studied the ‘molecules of emotion’ to understand the role of emotions in the immune system.2) Amongst these molecules is a ligand, which means ‘to bind’ in Latin, and it is a substance that binds to a receptor on the cell surface. The ligand will be the key if the receptor is like the keyhole. When a ligand, a molecule of emotion, attaches to the receptor, the receptor will open its door to exchange information about various emotions.
1) Promotes physical and mental health
Ligand transports throughout the body and shares emotional information. Interestingly, white blood cells also have surface receptors that bind with the roaming ligand to receive information on emotions. Therefore, when I get angry, the white blood cells will know and mistakenly recognize it as a bacterial invasion and begin to take a defensive stance. The movement of white blood cells in response to negative emotions such as anger and jealousy leaves unnecessary inflammation in the body. This process is the Stress response on our immune system. Conversely, gratitude prevents our immune system from losing control and acts as an antidote to our body’s stress response. When hormones involving gratitude
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Furthermore, a study from the National Institutes of Health found greater activation in the hypothalamus within people who showed more gratitude and carried out altruistic behaviors. 3) The hypothalamus is one of the key structures that maintain fundamental body metabolism by regulating the expression of emotions, body temperature, appetite, cardiovascular functions, etc. In other words, our body functions more smoothly when we are grateful. Therefore, as we can see, gratitude promotes our body to perform well, bringing mental happiness.
PMC2733324/nih.gov/pmc/articles/https://www.ncbi.nlm. and love circulate within our body, the white blood cells will accept the message that there are no risks and that the situation is good. As a result, white blood cells and inflammation reduces, and a person’s mood subsequently improves.
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91. Gratitude
2) Strength to overcome obstacles Oprah Winfrey is an influencer talk show host, a media producer, and the host of ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show,’ which aired in 140 countries. She was confirmed to be one of the world’s most influential people according to TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people of the 20th century and ranked No. 1 as the most influential woman. However, her childhood was different. In 1954, Oprah Winfrey was born an illegitimate child in Mississippi, where racism was extreme. Raised by her grandmother, she had to wear a potato sack because her family could not afford proper clothing. When she was six years old, her grandmother’s health deteriorated, and thus, she moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to live with her mother. It was here that Oprah Winfrey endured painful years. From the age of nine, she was sexually abused by her cousins, relatives, and even her mother’s acquaintances. She gave birth at 14, but the
The future of this young girl looked dark. Nevertheless, what was the basis that led this girl’s life from frustration to success? It was a gratitude journal she wrote every day without fail. It isn’t easy to see what you can be grateful for when looking at the young girl’s life. However, Oprah Winfrey found things to be thankful for during her impoverished life and wrote in her journal daily.
A saying states that we are not thankful because we are happy, but we are happy because we are grateful. We often feel that our problems are most severe when we find ourselves in difficult situations to overcome. Our frustration, resignation, and despair only make us sink deeper into our problems during these times. However, gratitude helps us come out of darkness to light and change our lives. I choose to rise up out of that storm and see that in moments of desperation, fear, and helplessness, each of us can be a rainbow of hope, doing what we can to extend ourselves in kindness and grace to one another.
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Oprah Winfrey (American broadcaster, 1954-present)
3) Forming social ties
baby died in the hospital just two weeks later. As a young girl unable to endure the shock and the hurt, she spent her dark and unhappy days running away from home, addicted to drugs, etc.
Gratitude is a moral emotion that expands interpersonal relationships and builds stronger bonds. Michael McCullough,
Gratitude as ‘a moral barometer’ is an emotional response that makes the beneficiary recognize that they received grace. Gratitude lets us know when a person has provided us with something of benefit, and expressing this gratitude tells the beneficiary that the favor they received has been helpful. Gratitude as ‘a moral motivator’ encourages people to engage in prosocial actions towards the benefactor or third party, further promoting social welfare. Gratitude as ‘a moral reinforcer’ is when the beneficiary expresses gratitude, and the benefactor becomes more likely to engage in more prosocial behaviors in the future. The sense of warmth we feel when a person says “thank you” for a favor or kindness you have shown provides a psychological reward and motivates you to continue helping others in the future. When people realize the grace they have received, they will feel thankful and express their gratitude, inducing both the beneficiary and the benefactor to behave more prosocially and positively impact society.
4 McCullough, M. E., Kilpatrick, S. D., Emmons, R. A., & Larson, D. B. (2001). Is gratitude a moral affect? 249–266.Bulletin,Psychological127(2), a professor of psychology at the University of Miami, and his team conceptualized gratitude as three functions which are a moral barometer, a moral motivator, and a moral reinforcer.4)
We tend to complain much more often than we thank in our daily lives. It is difficult to have a heart of thankfulness because obstacles prevent us from being grateful, and we must overcome this hurdle to reach genuine gratitude.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca, a Roman philosopher and a tutor to Nero, considered two reasons we forget grace. In his book, On 111. Gratitude
3. Obstacles that prevent us from being grateful
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Published in Forum and Century in 1931, Albert Einstein wrote an essay about gratitude.5) He wrote, “A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.” The heart of gratitude made Einstein a pacifist who established a close bond with humanity and nature. A humble person does not take what is given for granted but is grateful. Seneca’s second reason for why we forget grace is ‘greed.’ The desires of humans are endless. The moment we desire more, such as money, power, or fame, we forget our gratitude and quickly become dissatisfied. There is an anecdote about greed. One morning, Lord Congleton was walking by the kitchen when he heard someone say, “Oh, how great would it be if I had five pounds?” It was the sound of the cook complaining. Congleton thought something happened to the cook so he rummaged through his pocket and gave the cook
5 Forum and Century, vol. 84, pp. 193-194, the thirteenth in the Forum series, Living Philosophies Benefits, he cited the first reason to be ‘pride.’ Being grateful is having the heart of acknowledging others. However, a prideful person loves and brags about only himself. Therefore, the person can’t be grateful and instead consider their joys in life as rewards for their efforts. However, can we know, feel, and perceive our daily things simply through our own efforts? In 1905, physicist Albert Einstein published numerous scientific papers such as the theory of special relativity and the photoelectric effect. Then, in 1921 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of the photoelectric effect. One day, a reporter had asked Einstein, “how could one man do so many amazing things?” Einstein simply replied he would say “thank you” a hundred times every day.
5 pounds. The cook who received the money expressed his gratitude and said, “Oh, thank you. Thank you.” However, as Lord Congleton turned around and walked a few steps, he heard a groan behind the door. The cook sighed and said, “Oh my, why didn’t I say 10 pounds? How frustrating!” Just as how all rivers flow into the sea but can never fill up the ocean, no matter how much a person’s desires are satisfied, a person’s greed can never be satisfied. We also need to reflect on whether we are being consumed by our greed and forgetting our gratitude.
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The struggle ends when gratitude begins.
Neale Donald Walsch (American author, 1943-present)
In 1981, the day after a major flood in Austin, Texas, a young man stared at a specific location with despair. His eyes were on the natural grocery store he had opened a year ago. Due to the flood, everything, including the store’s inventory and all the furniture inside was submerged in water. The mud and filth had covered all the meat and fish, and the young man could Section are gratitude and peace connected?
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Gratitude builds better relationships because it makes us see ourselves and the world more positively. However, those who do not know how to be grateful will never be satisfied and complain. Furthermore, gratitude positively affects individuals and society. Let’s look at how gratitude brings peace and how the absence of gratitude destroys peace.
Gratitude2 and Peace # How
1. Gratitude, the cornerstone of peace
152. Gratitude and Peace
1) Respect and peace that begins with gratitude
Doug Conant, a former CEO of Campbell Soup Company, is known for sending more than 30,000 thank-you notes to his employees. In 2001, he took on a management position when the company was heading downhill. The company’s stock prices had plummeted by 46% with a very significant low employee engagement, in which for every three active employees, one person was not engaged. However, Conant turned the company around. The company’s stock rose, and
not receive any compensation because he could not purchase flood insurance due to a lack of funds. After losing everything in one day, the young man was in total dismay and simply stared at his damaged store. However, at that moment, people voluntarily gathered into the store with buckets and mops. They were local residents and the customers of the store. They said to the young man, “We will not sit around and watch this store come to its end. Let’s cheer up and start cleaning.” It was not only the locals who helped the young man. The vendors supplied new inventories on credit, and the bank gave the young man additional loans. Even though the young man could not compensate the employees, they worked for free for several weeks. With the dedicated help of the customers, employees, vendors, and investors, the store reopened only 28 days after the flood. The young man thought to repay the kindness he had received from those around him. Hence, from that time on, the company placed its value not simply as an organization that makes a profit but established a corporate culture dedicated to its customers, communities, and employees. This company is Whole Foods Market, which operates more than 470 stores in the United States and the United Kingdom. The young man of the story, John Mackey, strictly adhered to his belief, which increased the company’s value.
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2) Harmonious relations between countries that begin with gratitude “Yes, we love this country, as it rises forth, we love this place that is rugged, weathered, over the water, with thousands of homes.” It is a part of Norwegian’s national anthem. When Norway became independent, it was the most barren and challenging country to live in Northern Europe. However, Norway has established itself today as one of the best countries to live in and a developed country. It is important to recognize how it expresses the attitude of life within the Norwegian national anthem. Even though the soil may not be
employee engagement also increased. The secret to this transformation was to express gratitude to the employees. Conant would wait for the good news regarding an employee, and once he received the news, he wrote a handwritten note of gratitude to the employee for their contributions. Conant states that over ten years as a CEO, he had handwritten 10 to 20 thank-you notes a day, six days a week, and his leadership style became the subject of research at Harvard Business school and various institutions. Conant believed that gratitude was an important factor in uniting people to work together. Some managers feel that thanking their employees will undermine their authority. Furthermore, as one in control of the employees, some managers do not want their employees to think they need help. However, this is not the correct way of thinking. Instead, the manager’s expression of gratitude boosts employee morale and improves work productivity, but it does not mean the manager should express it excessively without sincerity. What is truly important is an appreciation that genuinely comes from the heart.
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fertile, you can feel the love for the country, your home, and the heart of gratitude toward its environment. In Norwegian, many expressions are used to say “thank you.” There is even a separate way to say “thank you” to the deceased at funerals, which is “Takk for alt,” which expresses thankfulness for everything they have done in their lives. The expression of thankfulness does not stop within the country. Every December since 1947, the people of Norway send a glistening Christmas Tree to Trafalgar Square located the heart of London. Behind this gift, there is unforgettable history. Nazi Germany had occupied Norway during World War II, and the indiscriminate bombing of German troops had left towns and villages devastated. The Norwegian government then turned to Britain for help, and in a battle known as the Norwegian Campaign, the British government sent an expeditionary force, which resulted in 6,602 casualties.
Furthermore, King Haakon VII of Norway was exiled to England and led a resistance against the Nazis. Even during this time, Britain continued to support Norway at its own risk. After World War II finally ended, the people of Oslo, the capital of Norway, wanted to express their gratitude to Britain for helping their country. Hence, as a token of gratitude for Britain’s sacrifices of its soldiers, Norway started sending a tree from the Norwegian forest as a Christmas tree every year. Even today, every winter, the British Ambassador and the Mayor of Oslo take part in a ceremony starting from when the tree is felled and placed in Trafalgar Square as a Christmas tree. Thus, the two countries have shared gratitude for more than 70 years and established friendships. Norway is also sending a tree of gratitude to the United States every year with the same heart of appreciation. As such, expressions
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3) International cooperation that begins with gratitude
In September 2019, a massive bushfire erupted in Queensland, Australia. The fire destroyed more than 11 million hectares of bushland and forest, the home to wildlife, and more than 2,100 homes. Professor Chris Dickman of the University of Sydney predicted that the number of animals killed in the bushfire could be as high as 1 billion.6) Canada provided help, so the Australian firefighters did not have to battle with the bushfire alone. Fifty-one firefighters from Canada volunteered to give up Christmas with their families and flew to Australia to help put out the bushfire. François-Philippe Champagne, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of that time, stated that Canada was prepared to consider further assistance as necessary and said, “When wildfires spread through Canadian communities, Australia answered Figure 2-1 Christmas Tree in Trafalgar Square
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6 impacted.htmlbillion-animals-more-than-one-australian-bushfires-news/2020/01/08/edu.au/news-opinion/https://www.sydney. of thankfulness greatly help promote harmonious relations between countries.
1) Life-threatening forgetfulness of gratitude
2. Forgetfulness of gratitude and crisis of peace
our call for help. We are proud to do the same.” As Canada continued to send additional firefighters, Australians expressed their gratitude to Canada on social media. The United States, New Zealand, Singapore, and Papua New Guinea also provided support through personnel to fight against the Australian bushfire. Australian Defense Minister Linda Karen Reynolds states, “Our Papua New Guinean friends are here to help in our time of need. The warmth and affinity between our two peoples is testimony to the true friendship we share.”
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This is regarding one of the themes from Aesop’s fables. In winter, a farmer was walking when he saw a snake in danger of freezing to death. Taking pity on the snake, the farmer put the snake in his bosom to warm it back to life. The snake revived from the warmth and bit the farmer who died. The idiom “warm a snake in one’s bosom” from this fable means repaying evil for good. We hear these stories often in our lives, and admittedly, I may be committing such acts of ingratitude without my knowledge.
France has also offered support to Australia to help fight the fire, protect the population, and preserve the country’s biodiversity. In addition, international celebrities, politicians, and citizens have made generous donations to the bushfire victims. Although the bushfire caused extensive damage, the beautiful image of international cooperation working together and expressing gratitude will be remembered by the people for a long time.
understoodthan-previously-level-rise-worse-vulnerability-to-sea-future-global-news/report-flooded-climatecentral.org/https://www.
. When the average global temperature rises by one degree Celsius, natural disasters begin, such as glaciers gradually melting, desertification accelerating, etc. If there is an average of two-degree rise, it will cause a great famine and flood, and with a three-degree increase, it will limit human survival, and New York is predicted to sink into the sea. At a 4-degree temperature rise, Antarctica will be ice-free, and with a 5-degree rise, survivors will fight for food and water. Finally, Lynas predicted that if the average temperature rises by 6 degrees, all living creatures will become extinct, including the human species. Earth is gradually becoming sicker. The earth has already reached its limit to cope with the endless greed of humans. If we continue to be greedy and forget to be grateful for many things the earth has given to us, it could threaten our very existence. Like the snake in Aesop’s fables, we must not forget
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Researchers at Climate Central, a research group that studies climate change, found that by 2050, about 300 million people in the world could lose their homes due to the rising sea levels. 7) Climate change is progressing faster than expected, and there have been more recent climate extremes such as floods, droughts, heatwaves, and extreme cold. This phenomenon is similar to when a person suffers from severe body aches and endures repeated cycles of fever and chills. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) predicts that if carbon dioxide emissions in the Earth’s atmosphere double by 2100 as expected, Earth could become 5.3 degrees warmer.8) How will a 5.3-degree rise affect our global environment? A journalist and a climate change expert, Mark Lynas, predicts and summarizes future scenarios based on global warming in his book Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet
carbon-dioxidebe-too-sensitive-recent-models-may-climate-shows-simulation-past-ucar.edu/132730/https://news.
There is a saying that goes, “all roads lead to Rome.” Rome was a great empire that ruled Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa, centered on the Mediterranean sea. Rome constructed 300,000 km of roads to communicate with the world, and it was considered the center of the world at that time. The legacy of Rome in its architecture, philosophy, law, and art is truly extraordinary. However, even glorious Rome eventually fell and split into Eastern and Western Rome. The Western Rome Empire collapsed in 476 and the Eastern Roman Empire in 1453. Within the history of Roman scholarly studies, Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is a monumental work that details Rome’s division between the East and the West to the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire. Edward Gibbon presented the characteristics of the Romans at the time of their fall along with numerous examples. In summary, the people had a lust for war, power, sexuality, and the madness of faith. The Romans were not satisfied with what they had, and all that was left was desire, anxiety, and fear. A letter from Saint Bernardinus to his once disciple, Pope Eugenius III, vividly depicts the 12th century Eastern Romans. It is written, “They will not submit; they know not how to govern; faithless to their superiors, intolerable to their equals, ungrateful to their benefactors, and alike impudent in their demands and their refusals. Lofty in promise, poor in execution; adulation and calumny. perfidy and treason are the
2) Forgetfulness of gratitude that threatens the country’s peace
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our gratitude and stop destroying the earth, but rather have the heart and mindset to achieve sustainable development with nature.
familiar arts of their policy.” This letter presents that a culture of ingratitude at that time influenced the fall of Rome.
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Albert Schweitzer (German-French doctor, 1875-1965)
At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.
Gratefulness3 and Peace
SECTION 03
1. Spreading gratitude
This is an event that happened in California. A mother of two children was at the cash register to pay for her groceries, but payment had failed due to a card error. As she was flustered, a person from behind held out a card and paid for her groceries. This person was a young man who worked at a nearby fitness club. The mother expressed her gratitude and asked for his contact information so that she could repay the money. However, the young man declined. Instead, he made an unexpected request and asked the mother to do the same act for someone else instead of paying him back. The mother replied that she would, but she called the young man’s workplace a few days later because she wanted to send a thank-you letter. However, she received the startling news that the young man had died in a car accident, and so the shocked mother was determined to keep the promise she had made with Section that Begins
with Me # How can I practice gratitude? 253. Gratefulness and Peace that Begins with Me
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2. How to practice gratitude
9 Legacy/com/ShareMatthewshttps://www.facebook. the young man. The mother started a Facebook page called, “Matthews Legacy,” to practice spreading gratitude. 9) The purpose was to show that warmth still exists in the world and to repay the kindness and love the young man gave. On the Facebook page, people posted various deeds and examples of gratitude. Furthermore, people’s hearts were moved and continued to send messages of gratitude and support, gradually spreading the warmth. As seen, it is important to have this heart of gratitude. Gratitude is a value of peace that brings change within ourselves but also peace to our surroundings.
There are many things we can be grateful for in a day. If we don’t find something to feel thankful for, or if we only focus on the things that bother us, we lose balance. How can I create a grateful mindset? This takes practice. 1) Gratitude journal A gratitude journal is about making a list of things to be grateful for. It can help lower stress and calm the mind, especially at night. A gratitude journal helps me discover and focus on what truly matters to me. It also helps to gain a deeper understanding of my emotions and the root of those feelings. If we make this habit of searching, it will also help improve our observation and attention. Simply writing in our gratitude journal can change the quality of life. We can learn how to write in our gratitude journal from Oprah Winfrey, who has overcome much adversity. Let us learn from Oprah Winfrey, who wrote every day in her gratitude journal.
• Prepare my favorite notebook that I can look at daily • Whenever a grateful event happens, record it regardless of time and place • Even if it’s only one line, write every day • Be grateful for everything around me • Be specific in what I am grateful for and why • Write in positive sentences • Write “thanks to” rather than “because of” • Write in the present tense, not the past nor future tense • Write every sentence as “thank you.”
For example, I could write, “A friend upset me, but I’m thankful for my patience not to get angry.” When writing in a gratitude journal, pay particular attention to the use of language. Martin Heidegger said, “language is the house of being.” In other words, we must not forget that the words we speak are our own thoughts. Let’s think about which words to use with the following example.
A criminal was sentenced to death and put in prison. Just before the execution, the prisoner was given five minutes. The prisoner prayed, remembering his family and God. When the short five minutes were up, an order was issued to stop the execution. What was the prisoner’s life like after that? This prisoner became a famous writer who wrote about his experiences. That death-row inmate is Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, a great Russian writer who had written many masterpieces such as Crime and Punishment . Dostoevsky wrote to his brother in a letter saying, “Brother! I swear to you that I won’t lose hope and will preserve my heart and spirit in purity. I’ll be reborn for the better.” Those five minutes before the execution were not unforgettable pain but a time of
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There are many ways to express gratitude to each other personally. You can do it in any way, such as meeting in person, talking on the phone, or sending a letter. Also, you can give a gift to others to express your gratitude. What is important is not the method but conveying my heart of gratitude to the other.
If a gratitude journal is for me to reflect on my day, the expression of gratitude is the interaction with others. No one can achieve everything alone. Even if I achieved the result based on my effort, the foundation is based on the help I receive, such as from my family, friends, and teachers.
Storybooth, a nonprofit organization created by StoryCorps, received many messages of thankfulness. In 2003, Storycorps opened a recording booth at the grand central terminal in New York City to record and preserve people’s stories. People with diverse backgrounds came into the booth and shared the true stories of their experiences. They also shared their inner feelings that they could not share with anyone, and within these booths, many expressed their sincere gratitude to their loved ones.
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2) Expression of Gratitude
discovering renewed hope and longing for life. Dostoevsky’s novels also reflected his renewed attitude toward life. Although his books often deal with dark realities such as murder, crime, and suicide, they consistently convey a positive attitude towards life and faith in humanity to the reader. Similarly, my language when writing my gratitude journal can change my perspective and future.
Expressing gratitude is acknowledging and accepting the support I’ve received.
Christianity <the Bible>
Confucianism <Analects of Confucius> Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
If you are grateful, I will certainly give you more.
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Islam <Quran> A grudge is repaid by straightness, and a favor is repaid by grace.
If it is difficult to find something to be thankful for, we can imagine living in a world where everything in our lives is gone. Imagine a world without these precious everyday gifts. How would we feel? We will feel grateful for everything we once took for granted. If it is difficult to find something to be thankful for, we can imagine living in a world where everything in our lives is gone. “How would my life be if I couldn’t see or hear?” “What if I had no family or friends?” “What if I had no teachers?” “What if there was no water or sun?” We often only focus on what we lack and habitually complain without even realizing it. However, if we change our perspective, there are countless things we can be grateful for. Gratitude makes our lives more full. When we are grateful, our mental and physical health improves, and it helps us become more positive and becomes the engine of strength to overcome challenges. It also helps to build friendships and strengthen social bonds. Just like how the drop of
Conclusion
Am I grateful for the little things? Expressing gratitude is not only when good things happen. I can feel gratitude at any moment if I recognize and do not forget the grace I received. When we look back on our day, we can realize many things we can be grateful for that we have taken for granted.
paint gradually spreads when dropped into a glass of water, gratitude naturally spreads similarly to those around us. Furthermore, gratitude is an important means of building trust and creating friendly international relations. Let’s practice gratitude and build a world of peace by expressing our thankfulness to those around us.
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Figure 2-1 Figure 2-1 Diliff, The tree in the square in 2006, CC BY-SA 3.0, Dec_2006.jpgwikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Trafalgar_Square_Christmas_Carols_-_https://upload.
ISBN 979-11-91898-58-3 ISBN 979-11-91898-53-8 (set) ???/?? 9 791191 898583 05060 ISBN 979-11-91898-58-3 ISBN 979-11-91898-53-8 (??)