Focus and Gratitude

We celebrated Thanksgiving recently in USA as always this year. As many of us already know, it is not only the holiday of historic and traditional significance but it also celebrates the spirit of gratitude. It reminds us to be thankful for whatever we have and there is always something to be grateful for. 

Festivals like this and many other teach us to practice gratitude. There are many books written on the same topic and there are many philosophers, leaders, writers etc. who have emphasized on being grateful to improve the quality of one's life. 

Even after so many people's and cultures' work, why is it so hard to practice gratitude for us? Even if we look around, we can easily find a reason to be grateful. There are so many things we might have which people around us might be longing for. Health, food, shelter, safety, family, water and what not! Why is it so difficult for us then to be thankful for what we have? 

When I think of myself, I think it is difficult for me to be thankful for  small blessings because my focus is not right. I often tend to focus on less important things rather than focusing on blessings. I focus on lack instead of focusing on abundance. 

As a kid I was initially raised in a typical Indian joint family. Like all kids, that time I had an ability to focus on more important things. I had a great time with my cousins. There were differences between grown ups which often lead to arguments. That really never bothered us. We were too busy to have fun together. Unknowingly we practiced gratitude for having each other around. Having a big family. I wish grown ups were as smart as us! Further we had to separate and move with our own small families in a comparatively small houses. I was still a kid and still had my focus right. While grown ups were busy being disappointed for losing their big home, I was busy in exploring the beauty and excitement of the new place. Making great new friends. 

The things started changing slowly. I was growing up and was losing my skill to practice gratitude by focusing on right things. I was no more thrilled for being able to run. I was sad that I could not win the race. I stopped appreciating my good grades and started feeling disappointed for losing the highest grades in the class. Further, it kept getting worse and instead of being excited about the great new stuff I got, I started feeling guilty about the money and time I spent on shopping. Instead of cherishing my kids' newly developing skills, I started complaining about their mess and naughty tantrums. Lately, my disease of bad focus became so severe that I could not thank universe for beautiful rains, I instead ended up worrying about traffic. 

Thanks to my little daughters! They came as an eye opener! Unlike me, they are never worried about their dirty clothes when they are enjoying strawberry picking in a muddy farm. They hardly care about the mess they make when the time is right for the pillow fights. Who cares what others are thinking about you when licking fingers while enjoying the chocolate cake adds to all the fun! As any busy, working mom, I can hardly provide them with all the things they truly deserve but they know how to rejoice any thing small they might get. They are able to show the heartfelt gratitude for a thing as small as a tiny candy! We might be able to buy the fanciest thing in the market but that sparkle in their eyes does not come just like that. It needs a right focus and the feeling of gratitude follows that. I guess once you learn to be grateful for the abundance without focusing on the lack, the happiness is bound to come along!