The Gratitude Note by Amir Zoghi
How would your life be different if you were grateful? What would it look like if it had everything to be grateful for? Will you then see the rainbow at the end of your street? Will you then stop and smell the flowers along your path? Will you then be at peace with yourself and your life? But what if you feel you have nothing to be grateful for and have difficulty finding gratitude in your life?Gratitude is not something that can be forced. Let’s be real now. Every time I tried to be grateful, I only found gratitude temporarily. Every time I tried to find love; I only found love temporarily. It cannot be forced; you cannot find it by merely seeking it. It will find you; it will come to you ever so naturally when you are open to it. The question is, what is your attention on? Are you only looking at what you have to be grateful for, or are you looking for how you can bring gratitude to someone else?
The love and gratitude that you find by seeking it will only be experienced temporarily. You don’t find love and gratitude – you become it. You become it when you give love. Gratitude is the effect and love is the cause. When you give love you naturally become grateful and become open to receiving love. You can’t be fully open to receiving love until you have first given it.
When you give unconditional love, you instantly receive unconditional love from yourself within yourself. It’s only when you give a conditional love that you may experience not receiving the love in return. A true feeling of gratitude does not come from looking at the circumstances of your life or your material possessions. This will only give you the shadow of gratitude, and it’s temporary. Your life’s circumstances will change, your material possessions and your riches will fluctuate, but true love and gratitude will not.
“The more difficulty you have in telling someone how special they are, the more difficulty you will have in realising how truly special you are”.
This is not fluff! There are many ways to give love; it is not merely about material possessions. It’s about showing someone that they are loved and that they are appreciated. It’s about pointing out to someone how they are special. It does not need to be only the person that you are romantically involved in; it could be a work colleague, an old friend or the person that is serving you at a coffee shop. The giving of love does not mean ‘saving’ someone either. It means making someone realise that they are special (loved) just they way they are. Do not give love with a personal agenda to receive love or with the intention of changing someone. That’s a conditional love. Give the love that comes with no agenda. That’s the love that’s pure. Make someone you come in contact with today feel special for no other reason than because you would love to do so. Make them realise that they are special (loved) just the way they are.
If you find difficulty in telling someone that they are special just the way they are or in telling someone why you appreciate them, then write a little “Gratitude Note” to them. It’s simple really, realize why someone is special or why you appreciate them and write a little note to them to let them know. You may even be anonymous on your gratitude note. It’s not important that they know it’s from you. What’s important is that they become aware they are appreciated and become aware of how they are special in just the way they are.The more you can give an unconditional love to another the more gratitude you will feel for yourself within yourself. You will find that life will naturally transform to reflect your gratitude. When love and gratitude become the dominant forces in your life, your perception will also change. Instead of always looking at what you can gain from the world, you will naturally look at what you can bring into the world. Instead of always looking at what you can get out of life, you will naturally look at what you can bring to life.
The more grateful you become, the more you become open to receiving what you are grateful for. Go and give whatever you are looking to receive. It is in the giving that you realise that you ‘have’ whatever you are giving. It is when you are looking to take that you realise you ‘don’t have’ whatever you are looking to take.
Make it a habit to write your gratitude letter to someone most days and you will experience gratitude most days. Let someone you come across today know that they are special just the way they are. Look for good in people and you will find the good in yourself, then it will be natural to love yourself.
Much Love,
Amir Zoghi
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