WISDOM
The Power of Gratitude By Helen Nicholson
I
f you are stuck in a rut, overwhelmed by life’s daily challenges, or feel as if your day resembles the movie Groundhog Day, gratitude and mindfulness can help to transport you into a much more joyful world. Gratitude allows us to notice our blessings and create perspective about life’s challenges. Mindfulness helps us handle tough times with grace, acceptance and surrender. Together these practices allow us to function at an elevated level. The most common description I hear from friends and colleagues who have no mindfulness or gratitude practice is that they feel ’stuck’ and are simply going through the motions, like a hamster on a treadmill.
The Benefits of Practising Gratitude A few years ago, American author AJ Jacobs decided to thank everyone who was involved in making his morning cup of coffee. It became a task of thanking thousands of people across all walks of life from all over the world, over a series of months. He discovered that his simple morning cup of coffee would not have been possible without the contributions of thousands of people. He started with the barista and owner of his favourite coffee shop, and the truck driver who delivered the beans. The delivery company couldn’t do their job if there were no roads, and so he included those who built and tarred them – people he took for granted when he picked up his cup of coffee every morning.
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