Posts tagged as:

gratitude

500 Words To Change Your Life!

by Dr.Mani on October 11, 2010

RE-TWEET IT!

Look, I realize a 500 word post on a blog isn’t likely to change your worldview or the way you see life. But then again, it might – in some small way. So I’ll share parts of a conversation I had last night.

Viji and I went to medical school together. We last spoke in 1989. Yes, twenty years ago. So when I picked up the phone at 10 p.m. to hear her voice introducing herself, it was a very pleasant surprise!

Sunday generally finds me in a more introspective mood than during working weekdays. And maybe it’s a reflection of a common way of thinking amongst members of a generation, or perhaps we both share a similar view of life, but our hour-long discussion ranged over various topics related to our professional, family and personal lives – with near-perfect resonance on our thinking about most issues.

On this post, I’ll talk about only one of them. A mindset. One that stems from two perspectives or belief systems.

“I deserve”.

And “I want”.

What emerged from our conversation, that’s based on a collective experience of 80+ years of life on Earth, is a feeling that most discontent and unhappiness for people in our circle of contact stems from either:

A sense of entitlement – “I deserve”

A desire for what isn’t theirs yet – “I want”

And while one (the desire) can be framed in a positive way, to fire one’s path towards a set of goals, the other is generally a formula for unhappiness because, frankly, no one cares what you think you deserve!

And no one is about to bend over backwards to make sure you get it.

This seems a common theme across Western and Eastern lifestyles, and is constant across continents (at least in India and the U.S.).

So what’s the way around these two self-defeating attitudes, then?

One small shift of thinking – towards a platform of gratitude.

Being thankful for EVERYTHING one has, including the reality of being alive today, healthy, well-fed, in possession of one’s faculties, with family and friends around… for the world, for nature, for technology, for society… for yourself, for me, and for the others in the world.

In short, being grateful for everything, without a sense of entitlement for what you have, or a grasping greediness for what you don’t, is a surefire recipe for finding deep, soul-satisfying happiness and joy in daily life.

Try this simple exercise (I’ve followed it every day, for nearly ten years now).

Wake up in the morning, and with your eyes still closed, tell yourself:

“I’m grateful for being alive today!”

You’ll be amazed at how much this simple statement will change the way you view the events that you’ll face and experience through the rest of your day.

You’ll still feel you deserve some things. And yes, you’ll keep wanting stuff. That’s only human.

But you’ll feel thankful for whatever you already have – and that will make a big difference.

(500 words!)

:-)

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Feeling Intensely

by Dr.Mani on January 17, 2010

RE-TWEET IT!

Intense Feeling

Today is different. Ever since waking up, I’ve been feeling things differently.

More intensely.

It started first thing in the morning. Being disturbed early on a Sunday morning by bright sunlight streaming in through half-drawn curtains, the buzzing of a mosquito in my ear, would regularly leave me annoyed. Not today. I felt happy – that I have a roof over my head, a net to guard me from those tiny ‘marauding monsters’, and the gift of a new day to enjoy.

When I sat down to a breakfast of left-over macaroni and cheese, I didn’t feel vaguely dissatisfied or yearn for something tastier, fresher, healthier. Instead, I felt grateful – that there’s food on my table, and that I’m well enough to eat it, taste it, relish it.

The sight of my uncleaned car would typically irritate me, the act of giving it a hurried wash performed with distaste and in a rush. But today, I lingered over it, feeling joy – that I have a car (with a full tank) to drive to work.

As I wove my way over pot-holed roads, zig-zagging and swerving to avoid gaping voids in the tarmac, I didn’t curse and lament as usual. Not this morning. I was happy – that there was a road to drive on.

Stopping at red lights, always guaranteed to generate a frisson of frustration, didn’t change this overall mood either. I saw it as a symbol of a framework that allows peaceful, streamlined co-existence amongst thousands of my fellow citizens, the alternative to which is chaos and bedlam.

At hospital, I was examining my little patient who had heart surgery last week – and felt a rush of deep satisfaction for the work I’m involved in, mixed with a deep gratitude for having a healthy child of my own.

All this intense feeling about things I had taken for granted until today was because I realized, very poignantly and bluntly, how fragile things are in our Universe.

In Haiti, last week, there were people who had similar things – and they no longer do. Thousands aren’t even alive. Millions would gladly switch places with me – or you – without any hesitation.

And yet, how often have we felt intensely about what we have, what we are, what we could become?

Shouldn’t we feel intensely more often? About more things?

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