How Does Gratitude Help Extinguish the Fires of the World?
It’s too easy to see the world as being on fire. But gratitude can extinguish the flames.
The last two years have been insane. Not for me, per se – but on the scale of the Big Picture of the world.
Between Trump, COVID-19, ugly social injustices, discrimination, surreal entitlement, blatant lies from many of our so-called leaders and “news” networks, and the seemingly never-ending stream of awfulness – it sure as hell looks like the world is on fire.
Before you reflect on the above – take a moment and pause. Is YOUR personal life, your world, literally or metaphorically on fire right now?
I know it might be smoldering or threatening to spark up here and there – but I would hazard a guess that if you are reading this, YOUR world isn’t on fire.
Seeing the world as burning is massively disheartening. What’s more, it evokes a sense of sadness, ire, disappointment, and ultimately hopelessness.
I could point at numerous examples – but that will only fan the flames (real or imagined). So, instead, I would like to offer you a fire extinguisher.
Anyone can use this with zero training. Everyone can find and/or create this.
It’s gratitude.
Extinguishing the flames – real and imagined
If you are capable of reading this – I am going to presume several things. Though you may have all sorts of issues, problems, and matters you’re working with and on – for the most part, you are okay.
You may or may not have a job, may or may not be in a relationship, might be in a less-than-ideal living situation, and uncertain about what the future looks like in many ways. But – you are here now. You’re alive, and you have options available to you (even though they might not be so great).
Because you are alive – you always have something to be grateful for. There are things for which you can express gratitude, give thanks, and bask in the surety of in your life.
Looking at the big picture too much will draw your attention away from what good you have. And believe me – you have good in your life to be grateful for.
Because you are alive. So long as you are alive, there are choices, options, possibilities, and potential. All of which are things to be grateful for.
Genuine gratitude is always positive and always empowering. Because it is a humble admission and voicing of thanks for things – tangible/material and/or intangible/immaterial.
Because true gratitude is positive and empowering – it’s the ultimate fire extinguisher.
How? By expressing gratitude, you generate positivity. But more than that, you recognize good things in your life, your individual perception of the world. That shows you that in all probability YOUR corner of the world isn’t on fire.
Open the gratitude hose
I know that you might not be in the best possible situation right now. There are likely any number of reasons and ways you can point to your life lacking and being insufficient.
However, whether you believe in it or not, the Law of Attraction works. Like the laws of gravity, motion, thermodynamics, and the like – the Law of Attraction is always at work. Consciousness creates reality.
If you don’t practice mindfulness to be more in tune with your conscious self-awareness, then your subconscious creates reality. What you think about is what you bring about.
This is especially insidious when it comes to the subconscious. Absorbing the news of the world and accepting – even subconsciously – that everything is on fire – that’s more than likely the experience you’ll have.
To put out that flame – employ gratitude. Open up the gratitude hose and spray.
Ridiculous? Why is that? How good does it feel when someone genuinely thanks you? How do you feel when someone does something unexpectedly kind for you? What’s your experience when someone offers a word of empathy for your experience? Grateful, I presume.
Giving gratitude has the exact same effect. Given or received, thankfulness feels good. Additionally, it goes both ways and can embed itself in your subconscious how any negativity can.
What’s more – gratitude is always positive. Positivity empowers. Both given and received – empowerment can snowball and improve life experiences for more and more people.
Thus, turning on the gratitude hose and offering thanks to yourself, to others, to anyone and anything in the Universe starts putting out the fires both real and imagined.
Why wouldn’t we all desire this impact of gratitude?
Gratitude can always be found
Our culture tends to look at big things when it comes to gratitude. Most tangible/material things. Be grateful for your car, your home, your job, your relationships, your smartphone, etc.
But there is gratitude EVERYWHERE. All you need to do is open yourself to it.
What am I talking about? Look at the little, everyday things you have in life for which you can be grateful. I would bet you might even take some for granted.
For example, I am grateful for:
- waking up every morning
- having my teeth and hair
- my overall health and wellness
- my cats
- dogs in my neighborhood
- the phenomenal technologies of my everyday life
- my ability to write
- friends
- family
- the air I breath
- clean water to drink
- indoor plumbing
- and much more
Simple things, easily overlooked things – both literal and figurative. But being thankful and offering gratitude for each is empowering. It creates and builds positivity. The more good and positivity I see in my own corner of the world – the more water I get to keep the world from burning.
Is this selfish? Not at all. Gratitude includes humility in that you are being grateful to unseen forces of the Universe and expressing that. Arrogance, entitlement, egotism, and the bombastic lack humility and true gratitude. Gratitude is given and never taken.
The truth is that overall, the world is not on fire. To keep it that way – gratitude empowers. Turn on the gratitude hose and put out the flames for yourself and watch how you prevent others from getting burned, too.
An easy exercise
To spray the embers to keep them from flaming up on any given day, I have an exercise to offer.
At the end of every day, I write down 5 things I am grateful for. As I write each, I think and feel thankful for them.
Since they’re written down, I can revisit them anytime I like. Doing so, yes, I see that there are things I repeat regularly. But that doesn’t lessen their power. I also see that there are lots of things to be regularly grateful for.
Please try this and see how you have more to be grateful for than you realize. Then let that empower you.
It’s too easy to see the world as being on fire. But gratitude can extinguish the flames. You have more power to do this than you probably realize. So why not make the most of it and express thankfulness today?
What are you grateful for right now?
This is the five-hundred and eighteenth exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are my ideas for – and experiences with – using mindfulness and positivity to walk along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.
I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world and empower as many people as I can with conscious reality creation.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-post and share this.
The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is available here. Check out Amazon for my published fiction and nonfiction works.
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