Discovering the True Meaning of Gratitude

Most of us easily express gratitude daily when we say “thank you” to someone for something they have given us or have done for us. But the truth is, we often say it more like a responsive habit without much feeling or thought. Expressing “thank you” as an acknowledgment of something positive that has affected us is valuable and positive for all parties involved. Yet, we often limit ourselves to view one situation at a time, easily forgetting the enormity of all we can be grateful for, which can be tremendous when acknowledged.

Animals are so expressive in their simplistic acts that they can touch us in ways that humans can’t. This is even true for our household animals who continuously show us their gratitude in little ways, all their own. Often, animals unwittingly play a leadership role in our lives because something will happen that focuses our attention on an event that brings home the moral consciousness of gratitude that we may have let slip.

In the news not long ago, there was a story regarding a whale that was in trouble.

“A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallon Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so badly off that the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her from the fishing net wrapped around her… a very dangerous proposition.

One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer.

They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her from the ropes that had trapped her.

When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles.  She then returned to each diver, one at a time, nudged them, and pushed gently, thanking them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The man who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.”

After reading that story, I was encouraged to be more grateful for what I did have and not focus on “coming from lack.”  But, in fact, I still needed a wake-up call.

As fate would have it, a friend of mine gave me a present that changed my outlook on my life for good. She handed me a package, and when I opened it, a mirror with words written along a spiraling circle lay in the box. The words began from the middle of the whorl and ended at the outside circle:  “Ask, Believe, Visualize, Act, and Enjoy.”  It is called a Gratitude Mirror, one that anyone can easily make. It came with printed gratitude statements stamped on soft plastic strips that easily adhere to the glass and  some blank strips so that I could make my own. She suggested that I hang my mirror in my bathroom because that is the first room in the house that I walk into each morning and the last room I am in at night. That would give me a way to start and end my day – with gratitude!

I hate to admit that the first one I made for myself was “I am grateful for my financial abundance.”  When I placed it near the printed one that read “I am grateful for all the abundance in my life,” I realized how limiting my statement was. I stood there and was ashamed that with my first statement, I was closing myself off to the greater abundance in my life – love, good health, friendship, beautiful surroundings, and so much more.

Then, I learned to expand the meaning of ABUNDANCE to include AWARENESS. By being more aware, I could know and experience how blessed and fortunate I am to be living with so much abundance in my life every day. And I am grateful.