Gratitude: Meet the queen of salient skills

“let's breathe in some gratitude “

Borrowing the words of Hernad,1997

“Gratitude; An attitude towards the giver;

An attitude towards the gift; a determination to use it well;

To employ it imaginatively and inventively in accordance

With giver’s intention.”

Gratitude  according to me , Is one of the core stone step that we take towards being open to the process of self-integration and towards our journey to wholeness as it requires us to use empathetic, compassionate as well as creative lense to see through as well as identify potential resources that resides within our own self first, so that we can move beyond the automatically polarizing view of looking at our own self and this de-conditioning pattern could be then extended to our surrounding and towards other people. Thus, the two of the subtle components within the broader domain of gratitude is mindfulness and creativity.

To appeal to the rationale mind, there are lot of scientific research as well as scientific experiments done on the topic of gratitude which argue for the scientific nature of the domain discussed in the article. In my view, two absolutely essential gifts that gratitude can equip us with are; a) Heightened sense of focus along with greater intellectual as well emotional appreciation of things in our lives; b) upliftment in the meaningful domains of life which include, psychological, spiritual, social and physical aspects thus fostering our overall wellbeing.

But as we try to understand this concept of gratitude there are lot of myths that surround this concept which are highlighted here;

Let’s tackle some myths about gratitude together:

Gratitude is just a naïve form of positive thinking or it’s a belief that everything is good

Gratitude is just a new strategy for happiness and instils the idea that we won’t be hit by obstacles or that these obstacles won’t hit us.

Gratitude means that I am not allowed to embrace overwhelming emotions

Gratitude strips people of initiative and leads to compliance or being passive

Gratitude is utopian or idealistic and does not work in life

Practicing it one day or for entire week would equip me with the skill of gratitude

This idea of gratitude works for people who are privileged and therefore only they can afford it.

            At the core of this concept lies the subtle understanding that the concept of gratitude allows us to embrace the concept of emotional intelligence so that once we are attuned with our own thought process and emotions it would also help us to reflect as well as respond to others emotions and feelings  in a better manner .Moreover, it  also increases the  quality of  striving  and working hard for the goals and purpose that we want achieve.Thus it allows us to embrace the value of  unseen in the seen .