Monday, April 08, 2013

G is for . . . Gratitude

Image courtesy: Raj Manchekar

There you, my dearies,

Ah, La Niña, you brought your ABC book along, with the page open at G. Glad to know you missed our sessions.

In your book, G is for glass. Notice that the glass is half full, as opposed to completely empty, which leads us to an important G in my opinion: Gratitude.

Gratitude is simply the attitude of being grateful for all you've got, remembering that it is always much, much more than many others have, no matter how little it seems when compared to what someone else has. Gratitude requires us to see everything through the glasses of gratefulness.

We humans are notorious for accepting the richest of gifts without a word of thanks. We barely realise how wealthy we are, until we lose what we have. Gratitude is the glue that holds our blessings together and prevents them from breaking apart.

It is not enough to feel gratitude. Silent gratitude never did anyone any good. One must express it out loud to people, strangers and friends, parents and children, wives and husbands, and anyone who does something good for us. No matter how big or small.

Both of you have celebrated birthdays in the last ten days. How much fun do you think it would be if people came for your birthday, bearing nicely wrapped gifts and then took them back right after the party was over?

Believe me, there is much to be grateful for. The food on our plates, the pillow under our heads, the roof overhead, our clothes, school, families -- the list could go on forever. Gratitude has the power to transform our caterpillar-like lives into something akin to the beauty that is a butterfly.

When you, La Niña, say Thank you to me in your sweet voice, or you, El Niño, say Than-tu in your broken English, I feel charged to do more for you. Your few words of innocent gratefulness remind that in being your mother, I have found one of my true callings.

I want to leave you with a secret: The more that you are grateful for, the more you have to be grateful for.


My wish for you is that you may not restrict the saying of grace only to mealtimes. Honour the smallest thing that anyone does for you. Give thanks for the sunshine and your talents, your strengths and the beauty of nature. Set aside time every day in which to express gratitude. Maintain a gratitude journal. Spend ten minutes before going to bed to thank God for all the little things that made you happy. And whenever you pray, let Thank you be the full stop to your prayer.

I am grateful to you for enriching my life, for making it beautiful in more ways than I can count.


Until tomorrow, my little ones, Hasta la vista.







73 comments:

  1. All the gratitude posts today are making me misty eyed. Truly we have so much to be thankful for. Very nicely done!

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    1. Thank you, Vinita. I now have one more thing to be grateful for, the IndiBlogeshwaris. :)

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  2. Awesome
    All the Gratitude posts today are over whelming
    I feel blessed and touched
    Thanks

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  3. Lots of gratitude going around today. A very good lesson for the little ones and big ones too!

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    1. Thank you, Suzy. Isn't it a good thing when so many of us remember to talk about being grateful?

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  4. guess so many posts on this topic... does tell us about us does it not... after all we are not so ungrateful ! :)

    lovely post

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  5. One must express that gratitude loud. Very few realise the importance of that. A wonderful post as usual :)

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    1. Thank you, Shail. We realise the importance of what we have only when we are in fear of losing it.

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  6. Yet another gem from you, Cynthia. Than-tu for sharing this :)

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    1. :) Shilpa, I am grateful for a number of new friends I have made in this blog hop, especially you.

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  7. Really meaningful. We need to be thankful and contented with whatever God gives us, that's the Key to happiness.

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  8. Loved it ! As usual. Gratitude is so so so important in life !

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    1. Gratitude is indeed the sauce that helps us to relish all we have. Thanks, Ruchira.

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  9. Love this. I try really hard to show my gratitude whenever I can. Thanks for sharing these thoughts.

    http://www.m5carolin.blogspot.com

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  10. I learned a few years ago, exactly what you're sharing here, Cynthia. Our blessings do grow in relation to how grateful we are for what we have - or at least, it certainly seems that I have more and more to be thankful for every day!

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    1. Yes, I too have been fortunate to learn this truth and to receive instances of it every day. Thank you, Corinne.

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  11. You are a lovely and beautiful writer. I am so grateful that I found your blog.

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    1. Thank you, Denise. I am grateful for your kind and encouraging words.

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  12. I loved reading it Cynthia. So much to learn from it. True that we must count our blessings.

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    1. Very true, Preetilata. May you have much to be grateful for.

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  13. My last week has been entirely indebted to family. My mother even came over to drive me to the hospital twice, and without family there's no way I would have gotten my meds or meals. Godsends, all.

    from John at The Bathroom Monologues

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    1. Happy to know that you are now well, having been cared for by your family. I wish you good health and the joy of your dear ones always.

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  14. Very thoughtful blog. I enjoyed it.

    Came by from Tales of the Reborn Crafter

    http://talesofthereborncrafter.blogspot.com/

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  15. I love your positivity! Just stopping by for the A-Z Challenge. Please check us out and sign up to follow if you like what you see. Juliet atCity Muse Country Muse

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    1. Thank you, Juliet. I will definitely check out your site.

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  16. This is the sweetest thing I've read! I thank my mom every day for driving me to work, except I forgot to today, but that's because we were laughing so much about what she was talking about.

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    1. Hi Debra, You are indeed fortunate to be able to spend so much time with your mom.

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  17. Thank you for the wonderful posts till now. Glad to be sharing this platform with you.

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    1. Hi Janu, I too am grateful for the opportunity that A to Z has provided us, not only in terms of writing, but also the opportunity to make so many new friends.

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  18. Lots of Gratitude is good!

    KaTy Did at: Life's Ride As I See It
    A-Z Challenge

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    1. It certainly is, KaTy, good luck to you for the challenge.

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  19. Replies
    1. Thank you, Connie. Wish you luck for the A to Z challenge. God bless you.

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  20. Aahhha ! Cynthia , we are two great minds and yet we belong to an awesome , amazing herd :P ...on a more serious note , this is a lovely gift to your children , something which they will etch in their gratitude journal - their wise mother .Today , when I asked my younger one what he was grateful for , he said it was his blanket which he's having since his baby days . Nightie Night to you and your little ones :)

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    1. Sridevi, it was very nice to see how so many of us think with gratitude of our lives. I think that was the high point of our gratitude posts.

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  21. I don't know if I'm a "little one," but I'm sure grateful for all that I have and the life I live. I'm definitely a glass-is-half-full kind of person.
    Great post! :-)

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    1. Thank you, Lexa, THat's the best way to live life, seeing the glass as half full.

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    1. You are so welcome, Border-breaking bound. What a nice name!

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  23. A good teaching for sure. This is a virtue that seems to be dying nowadays. Nice to have a read here. :)

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  24. This is wonderful. When my children were little we prayed what I call a Gratitude sandwich prayer. I would start with something concrete about the child I was grateful for, then I would chat about something in his/her behavior that needed correcting and then, I ended with more specific gratitude.

    It was a quite lovely way to discipline (or review earlier correction) with nothing but love.

    Happy A to Z-ing!
    Julie Jordan Scott
    Our Literary Grannies from A to Z:G is for Gail Hamilton
    tweet me - @juliejordanscot

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    1. Julie, that is such a beautiful way of correcting a child. With your permission, I shall borrow the Gratitude sandwich prayer from you, and use it freely with my children.

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  25. Powerful post today Cynthia! I remind myself even when the glass is seemingly empty, that I at least have a glass! I try to be grateful and when I fail, I am grateful for learning why I failed. That's all there is to life, isn't it? To be happy. And thankful that you are happy?

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    1. Now that is a refreshing attitude, to see that you have a glass even if it is empty. At least there is the prospect of filling it.

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  26. "The more that you are grateful for, the more you have to be grateful for." Very well said!

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    1. Thank you, Roshni. I see the truth of this line everyday in my life.

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  27. The pattern is progressing so well...and Yeah, I missed your posts in the weekend break :-)Cheers - Laxmi.

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  28. Very true, we should all definitely be greatful for what we have (not what we don't have).

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  29. This is so beautifully written. It brings a feeling of peace and blessing to my stressed out mind. Thank you so much.

    Happy A to Z!

    lillian888.wordpress.com

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    1. You are very welcome, Lillian. Articulating my thoughts on paper for the benefit of my kids also gives me a feeling of having shared my life with them.

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  30. Hey there from the blog hop :)

    Wow, and extremely inspiring post and you're exactly right....we do need to show and have more gratitude.

    This will be in the back of my mind for a good, long, while...thank you!

    Left and Write

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    1. Thank you, Mark, I am happy to know that my post has inspired you to think of all the blessings in your life.

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  31. I know I am grateful for many, many things. But this was a much needed post today. Thank you. :)

    Mel at Writings Musings and Other Such Nonsense

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    1. You are most welcome, Mel. We all need to remind ourselves to be grateful. My daughter and I sometimes have a session just before bedtime where we each have to list 3 things that we are grateful for.

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  32. What a wonderful sentiment! That's the perfect word, and the perfect post, for "G"!

    From A to Z, Kristen's blog: kristenhead.blogspot.com

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  33. What a lovely idea to make your posts to your children.

    Katie atBankerchick Scratchings

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    1. Thank you, Banker Chick. It was heavenly inspiration. I don't think I could have come up with the idea on my own.

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  34. Very well done and very special to write to your children. I love this line..."Graditude is the glue that holds are blessings together".
    Sue CollectInTexasGal
    AtoZ LoneStar Quilting Bee

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    1. Thank you, Sue. I truly believe that gratitude is a magnet that attracts more goodness in our lives.

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  35. Thank you, Tami, I hope it was worth your while.

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