Genuine Gems (GRATITUDE)

21) THE GRASS IS GREENER WHERE YOU WATER IT

How quickly we forget! " it's boiling! I feel like I'm in an oven!" I find myself resenting a cool 30-degree morning, when less than three months ago I would have given anything for such a tropical delight. How easily we take thing for granted, and forget the miracle and gift of being alive.

Gratitude is to acknowledge Allah's favours upon you, and believe that they have been given to you only out of Allah's infinite grace and Mercy.
"وما بكم من نعمة فمن اللّه "

"And whatever blessing you experience is from Allah. "
(Surah Al-Nahl )

Gratitude is related to grace which is the opposite of entitlement. Gratitude begins with accepting life exactly as it is. Gratitude is when you spend more time thinking about what you already have, rather than about how much more you could have had.

Gratitude is appreciation for things and people and situations as they are; rather than as you wish they were or expect them to be. Gratitude is not about benefits or usefulness or outcomes. You are thankful that things are just as they are --
diverse, unforeseen, authentic, and genuine.

We can't have enough reminders to dwell in gratitude. Every morsel of food that we get is in itself one of the greatest reminders.

If we really understood the cycle; where our food came from, and its seasonal sojourn, we would never eat a thing without enormous gratitude for the web of nature/human collaboration that brought it to us; the earth that prepared it for us, and most of all our Lord who runs thus whole system and remembers us when distributing substance to His entire creation.

Wa in ta'uddu ni'matallahi la tuhsooha....
We live in a world where technology is on the rise every second, everything is amazing, yet nobody's happy. It's very funny and very true. In the old days, you spent the money you had in your wallet, and then when you ran out of money you stopped buying things. Now we feel entitled to credit. We complain if we lose our mobile internet connection. How quickly the world owes us something we knew existed just a few years ago.

Everyone has a story about travel woes. It goes something like this, "we were delayed for 20 minutes. We sat on the tarmac for 40 minutes. " ask yourself, "Did I partake in the miracle of flight? " you are sitting in a "chair in the sky" and you complain about how far it reclines?

Catch yourself when you start complaining. When you hear yourself moaning about the weather, or how much work you have, or how much inconvenient this is, or how boring that is, say to yourself, "and then what? Do I get to partake in the miracle and gift of life?"

The grass is never green enough for entitlement. The grass may be greener on the other side. But even that is unlikely to be green enough. Gratitude reminds us that there is no other side. This is it right now. The grass us greener here you water it. So water this moment with your love and appreciation. You will be amazed at the results. You will grow a whole garden of inner peace.

Gratitude is the parent of all other virtues. Gratitud's children including optimism, generosity and kindness, Her cousins include abundance, joy and contentment. What came before gratitude? Only the awareness of gratitude. What comes after gratitude? Your life lived with joy and good will.