Pathwalking 38
Are you grateful for the opportunity to walk your own path?
This question is of far greater importance than you might think. Without gratitude, it is impossible to gain anything. Walking your path will inevitably fail.
Yes, that is a very broad statement. But it is completely true. Every self-help teacher and new age guru, almost every spiritual leader past and present will tell you that gratitude is absolutely necessary to achieve anything. If you are not grateful for what you have, if you do not show gratitude for what you have achieved, then you will not truly succeed.
There is an important truth at work here. It begins with the primary reason we choose to walk our own path: We seek satisfaction in our lives, and our life choices.
In order to begin to get more things we will be appreciative of, we need to show gratitude for what we already have. I have mentioned this before, I have made something of it in a different, non-Pathwalking post …but that still does not explain WHY it is so important. Why is this true?
Let me try to illustrate this idea. Let’s say you receive a gift. And that gift is something you really wanted. You say thank you, you feel and show gratitude for the gift, and you begin to feel good. That good feeling inspires more good feelings, and you seem to get more good things coming your way the more you feel gratitude for the things you have and the things you get.
Let’s look at the opposite. Let’s say you receive a gift. And that gift is something you didn’t really want. You don’t say thank you for the gift, and you begin to feel annoyed and ungrateful. That bad feeling takes you down, and brings more bad feelings, and you seem to find more and more things to make you feel annoyed and bad about the things you have and the things you get.
Has that happened to you? The less you feel gratitude for things, the less good you feel in general? There is a major difference in your day if you get up and feel thankful for the day ahead, versus getting out of bed, stumbling into the dresser, and wondering what bad thing will happen next.
And that is why gratitude is so very important. Gratitude is a positive feeling. Positive feelings lead to more positive feelings. See the above examples if you don’t believe me.
No, feeling positive alone will not resolve your debt, get you whatever you desire, and heal wounds in your relationships. Feeling positive will not cause your whole life to dramatically shift overnight. But it WILL give you a vital tool to cope. And when you can cope, you can build up hope. And from hope you can find new avenues, new paths…and you just might begin to Pathwalk where you want to go.
Gratitude is an important tool for Pathwalking. You might be dissatisfied with your point of origin, and that dissatisfaction may have been the catalyst that began your walk along the path. But once you make the choice, it is imperative that you show gratitude for what has come before.
Holocaust survivor, respected author and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel said, “When a person doesn’t have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity.” Roman philosopher Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” Late President John Fitzgerald Kennedy said, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” Oprah Winfrey said, “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” Four different people from four totally different times and different walks of life, all of whom express how important gratitude is.
Gratitude is a fundamental building block of Pathwalking. It is one of the most important things you can do in order to achieve walking the path of your own choosing. It is so very easy to do, and yet so easy to overlook. But expressing gratitude can vastly improve any day.
Bear in mind, it is insufficient to just say “thank you” and make expressions of gratitude if you do not FEEL grateful. The words without meaning are as hollow and empty as an insincere apology or a politician’s promise. Feeling gratitude is the key. When you feel it, express it.
I work hard to overcome the perceived and sometimes real shortcomings in my life, and express gratitude for what I have. Sure, there are things I want to see improve in my life, and of course I want better. But without being grateful for what I have, and feeling it, and expressing it, I will forever be stuck in the same immobile situations.
It can be a bitter pill to swallow. How can something so simple have such a far reaching effect? But I challenge you to try it. Find something in your life that you are grateful for. Think about it. Feel the gratitude. When you feel it, say aloud “Thank you.” When you say it, really mean it, really feel it! Find something else. Feel the gratitude, and when you feel it, say aloud again “Thank you.”
Do this at least 5 times. How did feeling and expressing all that gratitude make you feel? This should illustrate why gratitude is a key component of Pathwalking. And more, why gratitude is a key component of every aspect of your life.
What are you grateful for now?
This is the thirty-eighth entry in my series. These weekly posts are specifically about walking along the path of life, and my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Thank you for joining me.
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