Counter the sense of despondence with the feeling of gratitude!
In the midst of a raging second wave of a pandemic in India, there is a lot of negativity, anger, anxiety and pessimism that is surrounding us. Print and social media are flooded with grim stories of heart-wrenching suffering all around the country. Most of us have heard about the loss of someone they were acquainted with or close to, as a result of the virus. The mental impact of such pervading sense of negativity can be detrimental and can spiral into disturbing proportions very fast. One needs to consciously break out of the cycle of negativity by flipping the internal representation and positive reinforcements of all the good that we have going in our lives, even amidst these testing times.
One of the things that I have practiced over the last one year since the pandemic began is “being grateful for what we have”. It is also about admitting and accepting the fact that there are some things which are beyond our control and we cannot do anything apart from praying and wishing for the welfare of everyone around us. Every night before going to sleep, try and recollect the things that you are grateful for, in your life. If possible, maintain a dated journal of the same and read the same first thing before you start you day the next morning, which would help in positive reinforcement. Gratitude can be for any aspect of your life, be it small or big. Once can be can be grateful for things like:
- having a loving and caring family
- for being able to feed your family well
- for having good health
- for having your own house to live in
- having a stable income source in these tough times
- towards some other person for their random act of kindness towards you
- towards the healthcare and frontline workers for selflessly serving humanity
It can be absolutely anything and the list will differ from person to person. The more you practice this regularly, the more you find the things which you have gotten used to taking for granted in your life. The more you do this, the more you feel abundance of happiness and more blessed you tend to feel. This is the premise behind Christian festival of Thanksgiving wherein one expresses gratitude and thankfulness to the people around them and for the aspects of their life that they are grateful for. Practicing gratitude on a daily basis is like experiencing the bliss and happiness of Thanksgiving on a daily basis.
Whenever during the course of the day, you feel overburdened, stressed or anxious, just take a few deep breaths and remember the things in your in your life that you are truly grateful about, and just like that the negative emotions will dissipate into thin air and you will be restored to a state of mental harmony and inner peace. Gratitude acts like a lightning conductor. When lightning (negative feelings) strike, it draws them away from your mind and the negative emotions are sent into the ground. Such is the immense power of gratitude. Practice gratitude every day and watch its immense power change and transform the state of your mind and quality of your thoughts, and bit by bit watch it elevate your experience of life!.