Being grateful to what we have and appreciating our lives instead of yearning for something new in the hopes it will make us happier, or thinking that we will be satisfied only when our physical, emotional and material needs are met is a sure way to happiness. You don’t have to be a genius to feel the goodness around you and express gratitude in your heart towards those who have been nice to you during bad times.
By expressing your gratitude, you are doing a great favor to yourself, because it fills you with happiness, positive energy and hope. To find this treasure, you just have to pause and think, and there you will sure find good things happening around you. It is there, no matter how bad the situation is, there is always a silver lining shining through the dark clouds. One favor I did to myself when I felt upset with cancer was to look for something I could be happy about amid this chaos. Surprisingly, when I started looking, I found a lot of reasons to be happy. Cancer was a monster, but it was the monster that introduced me to amazing angels in my life, who I may never have met without it. It was also my wake up call to be happy rather than crappy.
From the amazing doctors, counselors and new friends I met, I am amazed to realize how even though we think this is a big bad world, how many angels are waiting to help us out. I see the angels in people especially when I am with Farheena,, my daughter with special needs.
Today, I do not hesitate to reach out to anyone who needs help, because I have been helped so often. My surgeon did not even charge me his fees, but went on to help me with chemotherapy and even offered to donate blood when I needed it during my fourth cycle of chemotherapy. I needed counseling and the amazing counselors did not charge me for that either. Life has been much better with my SIS - Sisters in Survival - with whom I share a special bond, which is thicker than blood. I have shared amazing friendships with people who do not share my cancer experience because I was opening up to them due to my new outlook in life.
When death knocked at my door, I realized the value of my life which changed everything for me. It gave me tons of reasons to be grateful for, especially for each of the days I wake up to.
I have had a tough life, but then I have so much to feel gratitude - my amazing children which includes my daughter in law now, family, friends, students and people I have worked for. Yes, that is great that I have always had amazing bosses to work for. I never had a bad work experience which I had to regret.
Despite my challenges, I have seen a lot of success. I am so grateful that I am independent today. Those who have been educated and had a job regularly will never understand how much this means to a person, who gave up studies and professional life and was dependent on a spouse for expenses. I do feel grateful to my whole life overall. Sometimes I end up thanking the bad times because those are the challenges that made me a better person than I was. So, I can say I am grateful to the good people and good things in my life, as well as to the negative people and bad things that happened to me. Both have contributed equally to my success and happiness.
When I feel gratitude in my heart, it fills me with positive energy, hope and happiness. I feel so content knowing that people have been good to me when they had a choice to be neutral. Life is Good and I am grateful.
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| Photograph: Rayyan Rizwan |
This is a very inspiring post. I'm glad you found help, support, friendship and more on your journey, and that in turn, you're offering the same. I absolutely believe gratitude is one of the most important attitudes we can practice - it really does shift things.
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing that you have been able to stay focused on gratitude during such difficult times. That is truly inspirational. Weekends In Maine
ReplyDeleteIt often seems that the people who have had the toughest lives are often the most grateful for waht they have.
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