Can Gratitude Change the World?
It is difficult to feel gratitude in the face of overwhelming unfairness, cruelty and disdain.
Expressing gratitude, however, is a fundamental building block for creating change.
I find the news extremely disheartening. The United States is being led by a petulant, narcissistic man-child and his unscrupulous associates. Long-standing institutions that made the nation a world-leader are being dismantled or massively corrupted. Allies are being alienated. Congress cannot be bothered to do their job and fix this in the name of party cohesion. It’s senseless, infuriating, depressing, and cause for concern.
Those in so-called power are using fear, hate, division and the sewing of discord to destroy the many while propping up a select few. While they have a small, vocal, and frankly well-armed base of support, they are in actuality the minority. Yet resisting and continuing to be inundated with the depths of degradation and negativity we face daily can be massively disheartening.
Because we see so much greed and inhumanity occurring with alarming regularity, the line between desire and greed has become terribly blurred. On that same line, the notions of selfishness and self-care are equally blurred. If you have compassion and empathy it is hard not to feel some guilt when you see all the bad but personally experience good.
Gratitude is never ever a bad thing. It is a matter of positivity, it always builds and never destroys. Saying Thank You, and meaning it, expressing the feeling behind gratitude is a tool for change. When we express how grateful we are for things we have, things we receive, tangibles or intangibles, we empower ourselves, as well as those around us.
In the face of institutionalized disempowerment and disenfranchisement, we need every tool we can get to fix this.
Gratitude is not selfish
Not to put too fine a point on it, feeling grateful and expressing gratitude is not an act of selfishness.
How can I express gratitude when so many people are suffering so horridly? Because feeling grateful for things in no way disempowers anyone else. All those people who are experiencing awful things and suffering do not have their lot in life made worse when you are thankful for things.
I know how hard this is. But consciousness creates reality. When we get focused on all this awfulness around us, we discuss it, we rant about it, we feel terrible seeing it, we inadvertently energize it more.
We are in a reactionary cycle. This horridness we are experiencing is itself in reaction to a changing world that certain people are resistant to, even frightened of. Change is scary. But that does not make it any less inevitable. When we are reactive instead of proactive, it is building on negativity rather than positivity.
Being grateful and expressing gratitude is positive. When we develop positivity, we can turn this into a tool to be more proactive, and take steps to effect change. Every single change starts small. It begins with you and me.
If we allow ourselves to be disempowered, disheartened and overwhelmed by it all, we can do little to change anything. Negativity tends to spiral like water down a drain, inevitably flowing into a massive pool. Drowning in a pool of negativity helps nobody.
Whether it is tangible or intangible things, expressing gratitude is a game changer. It empowers, it builds, it is a tool to manifest a better world. It begins, however, with individuals.
When we are not grateful for what we have, material or immaterial, we haven’t much to work with to gain more.
Gratitude is abundance
Saying thank you, and FEELING thankful is empowering. When you receive genuine thanks, doesn’t it make you feel good? Giving it is equally as powerful as receiving it.
The number of things for which we can be grateful are infinite. Intangibles like air, the power of thought, laughter, joy, and love are no less powerful than the tangibles like sunlight, clean drinking water, coffee, and soft grass beneath your feet. Saying thank you for material tangibles like iPhones, cars, pets, friends and lovers, and anything else you have or desire to have is no more powerful, and an equal matter of partaking of an abundant universe.
Lack, scarcity, and insufficiency are man-made notions used to disempower. Abundance belongs to all of us. Gratitude for the abundance around us and all we are capable of manifesting draws more. When each of us individually feels thankful, and expresses gratitude, we empower. It is with this power that we can change the world.
Stand up for your rights. March in protest of wrongs. Call, write, e mail, and remind the assholes in Congress who they work for. Vote for less-selfish and self-serving assholes in the next election. Raise funds for worthy causes. Blog about proactive actions we can all employ to improve the world we live in.
Say and feel Thank You at least a dozen times today. Empower yourself to change the world for the better.
Do not lose hope, because I assure you, you are most definitely not alone!
What are you grateful for?
This is the three-hundred thirty-ninth entry in my series. These weekly posts are ideas for, and my personal experiences with, walking along the path of life. I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world along the way.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-blog and share.
The first year of Pathwalking, including some expanded ideas, is available here.
After more than 6 years of Pathwalking, I have launched a Patreon to garner support for these works, and more.
