Gratitude and Generosity

 

Gratitude and generosity

Connect your soul or spirit to gratitude. If you are grateful to God for what you have now become, you may also look at the behaviors of other individuals with more tolerance, or even with totally different perspectives.

Blessings in life, such as the gift of life, are generally overlooked, or often even taken for granted. For example, if someone has taken advantage of you, do not just become angry right away; instead, be grateful that you are the victim instead of being the person who victimizes others.

Gratitude enables you to develop a positive outlook in your soul. Smile more often. Keep complaints about people, things, and life in general only to yourself—unless voicing them will help bring about positive changes in others or in society.

Gratitude helps you see the good in others, letting you give them the benefit of the doubt. Try to remember that we are all created in the image of God. Focus on any individual as a person, rather than on the behaviors or beliefs of that individual, which may not be appealing or pleasing to you.

Always be grateful that you have been given the opportunity to become either a teacher or a student in whatever circumstance you may find yourself in, and turn it into a miracle of life.

An illustration

 

At the end of 2007, John Kralik, an attorney who owned a law firm, experienced debts and disasters in both his life and career.

 

One day, after a walk in the mountains, Kralik became enlightened: as his 2008 New Year resolution, he decided to write a thank-you note a day for the rest of the year to everyone he knew.

 

Kralik’s 2008 “gratitude project” had changed his life completely. Instead of his feeling of discontent regarding his lack, and his envy of those having what he did not have, he had learned to be grateful for his law firm, his practice, his friends, and his family, despite the many disasters and drawbacks he had previously experienced. Kralik’s expression of gratitude began to change every aspect of his life. His relationships with his family, his friends, and his staff improved significantly; his law firm avoided bankruptcy, and even turned around completely.

 

Gratitude is something that you will get more only by giving away more. Expression of gratitude generates happiness that often overcomes the unhappy feelings of lack. 

Be generous with your time, your labor, and whatever you may have. Show generosity to others around you.

Form the habit of giving without expecting any credit, recognition, or anything in return for your generous gesture. If you give with the intent of receiving, you become a “user” and not a real “giver.”

Generosity does not necessarily have to do with giving or spending money. It is not solely based on your own economic status or how much money you may have, but on your pure intentions of looking out for society's common good, and on giving away from the bottom of your heart. Generosity should reflect your own passion to help others who are in need, or who are less fortunate than yourself.

Mother Theresa once said that it is more blessed to give than to receive.