gratitude — an overwhelming feeling of appreciation
Do you experience gratitude often? What triggers it for you?
For Pablo Casals, it was playing Bach:
For the past eighty years, I have started each day in the same manner. It is not a mechanical routine but something essential to my daily life. I go to the piano, and I play two preludes and fugues of Bach. I cannot think of doing otherwise. It is a sort of benediction on the house. But that is not its only meaning for me. It is a rediscovery of the world of which I have the joy of being a part. It fills me with awareness of the wonder of life, with a feeling of the incredible marvel of being a human being.
Do you think gratitude is a feeling worth cultivating? Do you think cultivating it is possible?
November 21, 2020
Yes, I do think it’s possible. The more you look for and express gratitude the more you find.
Amen to that!
I agree with Ann.
and I tend to think of the basics when I think of gratitude.
the thing I am most grateful for is water. to me it’s the most wonderful luxury in the world. to have clean water to drink. and to be able to turn on the faucet and have hot water. I never fail to feel thankful for that. it’s a miracle really.
and it’s also lovely to have a clean flushing toilet! 😀
Yes! 🙂
I believe that in order to live any kind of joyful life, we MUST be thankful for what we have, and for different things at different times. Right now, with so much Covid, I am mindful of my breath and so thankful for sweet air and the ability to breathe freely.
That’s a great one. For me it’s the internet so I feel connected to the world and not isolated.
I agree with all of the comments wouldn’t before me and I’m grateful for those same things. Without the internet I’m with you I would have no connection with the outside world. Every time I take I really really hot shower which is everyday I think how thankful I am that I have a hot water heater and water. I’m with Jenny and the rest of you it is the basics that I think of. Like a roof over my head a car to drive the ability to walk the dog there was so many that don’t have those basics
We are so incredibly lucky.
Absolutely! This season of isolation has made me realize all I’d taken for granted. So many little things are, in fact, enormous blessings.
I was fairly isolated as a kid, and I’ve always had problem with eye strain…life is so much richer for me now and I’ve never taken it for granted.
I think that whatever we want to cultivate, is possible. Perhaps some things, take more work, than others. But if we want them, deep in our inner selves, they certainly are worth trying to cultivate.
Yes, going deep makes all the difference.
I am always grateful when small gestures are never taken for granted. Either if I do something for someone & thanked for it…or the other way around…if someone does something for me, I give thanks. No matter how small it be.
Good for you!
Oh, so much is said here that I agree with. So grateful for water at the touch of our finger tips, for electricity…air conditioning in summer.
I am so grateful that we don’t live in a warn torn area when a bomb might fall any moment.
How I love the small kindnesses that are done…especially by strangers. I don’t know why, but they touch me so. We were at our daughter’s last time, and one of Lorelei’s friends was there. She is a couple years older than Lorelei…but she was watching Roger try to do something, and she said his name and told him how to do it. In a kind way, and he was going to need a knife, and she took him hers and said, here, this is what I used. Of course, her mom and dad are both nurses, but still, it really impressed me that she was paying attention even with her and Lorelei sitting jabbering away. (I was facing them and not Roger)
And every morning, I am grateful when I hear him breathing and know that he is alive.
That was so sweet of that girl. I’m with you, Andy and I are both aware that one of us will probably be left with a huge hole in our lives in the not-so-distant future. We don’t worry about it, but we are grateful for what we have now.
I used a gratitude journal to help me get out of deep depression after my husband’s stroke. I credit that book for helping me find my way into blogging. So, yes, I think gratitude is worth perusing. BUT I also think there is a place for our collective angry to be used to redirect public opinions and motivate us to act for do-good causes. Sometimes we have to fight to hold on to what we value most in life, when just being grateful for our blessings is not enough, when being grateful for our democracy is not enough.
It’s not either-or… gratitude doesn’t mean not working for something better. I’m not at all convinced anger is the best motivator, though. There are a lot of angry people in the U.S. right now, pushing for opposing things. I can’t see it resulting in a better country/world.
interesting comments, many of which resonate with me as well…of late I realise how lucky I am “being my own person” – on average making decisions that are “for me” …
Yes, we are incredibly lucky to have that choice.