Good morning! It’s a great day to be grateful.
I did a post a while back about one of my favourite artists. It talked about how he was stuck in the Middle East, on the side of some remote highway, when he was taken in by a poor family.
The family showed him great hospitality. They fed him before they themselves ate. Even though they had a young daughter, he got the only bed. They treated him like a King. Better than themselves. In the morning he expressed that he could not think of a way to thank the family enough for their generosity.
What surprised him was that they were equally surprised by his gratitude because it was they who were most grateful. They explained that it was through his arrival, and their generosity to him, that they came to be more aware of what they had. They were grateful for the fact that, if they had enough to give, then they must have had more than enough to start with. So we always have that.
Maybe we don’t even think the day is good right now. But an act of generosity can prove to us that as low, or bad, or as weak as we might feel, a simple act of kindness can demonstrate that we have more than enough life energy for ourselves and someone else.
The need is real. The math is real. Let’s not make excuses. Let’s just do it. Just like a chain of COVID infections can kill someone, a chain of calls to express sincere gratitude, can save lives. So here’s what we’ll do.
On the phone, or publicly on their social media (feel free to copy the meme or share this post), tell 3 friends what you admire about them, and why you’re grateful to know them. Then tell them what we’re doing with this larger exercise and then ask them to join us. Maybe we only change it a little. But it won’t take much to change the world today. Who’s in on this #gratitudewave?
peace. s
A serious childhood brain injury lead Scott to spend his entire life meditating on the concepts of thought, consciousness, reality and identity. It made others as strange to him as he was to them. When he realized people were confused by their own over-thinking, Scott began teaching others to understand reality. He is currently CBC Radio Active’s Wellness Columnist, as well as a writer, speaker and mindfulness instructor based in Edmonton, AB where he still finds it strange to write about himself in the third person.