*Fly like a bird with the 2 wings of Gratefulness and Enthusiasm*. 4 July 2020
This has been inspired by a post this morning from one of my classmates Beryl with a heading:
#YouCanWinInTheSecondHalf. The synopsis was that regardless of how ‘poorly’ your game has been thus far, you can change strategy and finish the rest of the game in victory. I couldn’t agree more.
Let me suggest to you that life is easier if we fly like a bird with the 2 wings of Gratefulness and Enthusiasm. Look at it this way: when we embark on our goals and desires, we never plan or expect any major obstacles, setbacks or upheavals. Why would you? It would be stupid to expect same because that is not what you want. However they always show up along the way, with the worst one being death, when our very life is snuffed out. We are also sometimes plagued by major illness which can disrupt our flow and knock us down for months if not years. Some end up in wheelchairs or being bedridden. These are not desirable experiences to put it mildly. Therefore they catch us unawares. The effect or ramifications from such painful circumstances can sometimes linger on long after the very setback or illness is over. Perhaps, in your hour of need, you felt abandoned by a spouse friend or family and you continue to wear the pain or bitterness as a badge of honour. That is one way of handling the situation and it is not the only way. You have the option of seeing your past or experiences through the lenses of gratefulness.
Gratefulness is warmly or deeply appreciative of kindness or benefits received. Yes, benefits received! It is a fact that we have all received amazing gifts benefits and endowments that we hardly pay attention to. The problem is not “the benefits”; it is your attitude. You are refusing to be a grateful person. You are neglecting to deeply appreciate those benefits. Gratitude changes everything.
Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others.”
— Marcus Tullius Cicero
The heaviness in heart that you experience is due to your lack of gratitude which means you habitually count your burdens more than your blessings. This means you see your burdens as a mountain and your blessings as a molehill. This means you believe God has cursed you more than he has blessed you. That is why you continue to wear the pain or bitterness as a badge of honour. Any day you choose, you can change that. You can start being grateful and become what I call a gratitude genius which by definition is someone who easily find little things to be grateful for. One writer said it beautifully : when upon life billows you are tempest-tossed, when you are discouraged thinking all is lost, just sit down and count your “many blessings” and it will surprise you what the Lord has done. For starters, you are alive! You can breathe, walk, read, talk, not in a wheel chair and not bedridden.
One of the strategies I personally use is what I call the A to Z of Gratitude. This is how I do it: I take a clean sheet of paper and write A to Z vertically on the left hand side.
A –
B-
C-
.
.
.
Z-
I then write at least 1 or 2 things I am deeply appreciative of that begins with the letter A, B, C etc etc. Oftentimes by the time I am only a quarter through, I am already overwhelmed with manifold blessings in my life. That is a better way to handle the past. Try it.
The other wing of the bird to fly with is Enthusiasm. As a matter of fact, grateful people usually tend to be enthusiastic as well. And ingrates or ungrateful people are always sad, depressed and see themselves as victims. To them the future is gloomy and lugubrious. They struggle to be equable. To face the future, you need a lot of enthusiasm. You must be replete with enthusiasm. You must be excited about what the future holds. Your thought of your imminent success must reinvigorate you. Enthusiastic people always have optimism. Optimism is hopefulness and confidence about the future or the success of something. People who are enthusiastic don’t give up that easily. Infact they don’t give up! Winston Churchill once opined that Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. Apart from being grateful, this is how I feed and maintain my enthusiasm. I take action and continue to take action because action motivates further action. You cannot win the lottery unless you buy the lottery. Goethe said everything is hard before it becomes easy. So when the going is hard, I remind myself that it will soon become easy. Next, I surround myself with enthusiastic people. They say you are the average of the 5 people you hang around with. If they are diffident cynical and pessimist, you will soon become diffident cynical and pessimist. The opposite is equally true. If they are confident ambitious enthusiastic and optimistic, you are in for the gold. One writer said we must spend time with the wise and we will become wise. He also warned that if you are a companion of fools you will suffer.
So in conclusion, be like the bird (or eagle) and fly with the 2 wings of gratefulness and enthusiasm.
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Martin Dzediku is the founder of Martinlive.com.
We share ideas that count with people who care. For over 20 years, he has been fascinated with this journey called life, what makes ordinary people live healthier lives, how people start with little to nothing and end up with much and how people maintain steady equanimity in the midst of major setbacks or when you are tempest-tossed. We have researched and share our findings to bless, heal and inspire, elevate and dignify the minds and hearts of men and women.
_Reach us via Martin@martinlive.com and whatsapp us with +97433529330 or +233244771088_