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“Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how
many times I fell down and got back up again.” - Nelson Mandel
Genuine thankfulness is
not simpering or fawning. It is not simply being positive or trying to control
the outcome in life. Nor is it looking on the bright side of life and
pretending that everything is wonderful. There is much in life that is not so
good, is difficult challenging and sometimes seems evil.
Gratitude is, for me,
about noticing, looking, seeing and appreciating other people and what is
around me that is good or contains the potential for good. This may, of course,
bring us to a sense of some things in our life not being quite right.
Recognising the things in life we find hard to be grateful for may act as a
catalyst for change. ‘There may be times in our life where much of it seems
bleak and being grateful seems impossible to do. It is not about being grateful
all the time or accepting what is unacceptable. I think true gratitude is about
developing awareness of what is good and true and beautiful. It is not blind to
what is ugly or difficult.
Developing a sense of
thankfulness in the context of appreciation can lead to a sense of discernment.
Someone who is good at a skill, whether it is painting or writing, fixing a
car or turning wood will usually develop discernment in recognising other people
with a similar skill and be able to spot those whose ability is genuine and
whose is fake.
Today
I reflect on Macrina Wiederkehr’s words, “Gratitude for the blessings of the
day, compassion for the discouragement.”
Several people seem to have had difficulty posting a comment and being human it is nice to have some feedback - thank you everyone who has, usually via FB or email. I've checked through and this is what you seem to need to do is - write your comment. Check the box below 'Comment as' and select either annonymous or Name / URL and then type a name. Check publish. It then asks you tick that you are not a robot! Tick this. If it gets stuck scroll down a little past the box which appears and click on 'Publish' again. Voila!
ReplyDeleteIt's obviously done to avoid people trolling or spamming - inappropriate comments in other words.