When you are grateful even for the abundance of nothing, it will be converted into the abundance of all things.
This is a popular quote about gratitude and I see truth in it. Many things that we look at as achievement are only gotten by the favour of privileges and not by right, so being grateful is a necessity. The truth is, even the life that we live is not based on merit but purely on grace and mercy. If you think life answers to merit, then go through the profiles of the people that have died and you will realize that some of them are more qualified to live than you - so remain grateful.
Image from Pixabay
For gratitude to flow from your heart, you must possess a heart of joy. Having a heart of joy does not mean that you are not faced with challenges but you know that you will overcome. This is why it has been said that "joy is not dependent on what is happening on the outside but what is happening in the heart". When you stay joyful, you will not lack reasons to be grateful.
If you will be able to think sincerely about your life and all the good things you have received (both the ones you did not even pray about), you will be amazed at how blessed you are. Even if you feel some other things are not working, at least there are other things that are working, so your gratitude can be targeted at those things and before you know it, the other aspects will start to work too. No wonder it has been popularly said that:
Appreciation (or gratitude) for the last is an application for the next.
Here is a question for you: if you give two people the same amount of gift and only one person later comes back to show appreciation, the next time you have only one gift to give to someone, who will you give it to? Obviously the one that showed gratitude for the past gift. You see, gratitude does not only relate to past blessings but it also opens the way for future blessings.
It will not cost you anything to tell someone "thank you" no matter the size of what they did for you. I remember sometimes ago, I assisted someone to get a particular task done. The task was simply and did not cost me much but the way the person appreciated it amazed me. The next time she saw me, she still reminded me of the assistance and thanked me again. At that point, I was so moved to help her over and again. You see, this is what happens when we express gratitude, we attract more good things.
Image from Pixabay
If there is any benefit of showing gratitude, then wisdom demands that you should be benevolent with it. It is better you show gratitude "too much" than you do not show it at all, so make your choice and be willing to stick with the result. Always remember that gratitude is not gifted - no one is born with it. It is entirely the choices we have made over time, so try to make the right choice.
Thanks for reading
