Gratitude to Greatness – Living life meaningfully in 21st century

Hey there! Have you ever felt grateful for little things in your life? In this article, let’s look at why gratitude is a powerful concept and how to apply it to live a life filled with joy and satisfaction! Gratitude is taking a moment to notice and acknowledge the things that we often take for granted. These could be things like having a place to live, access to sanitation, food, water, the right to vote, etc. 

Surveys prove that inculcating gratitude as a habit in our daily lives has a positive effect on our bodies, minds, and brains. This is because gratitude is a positive emotion and it creates other positive emotions like calmness, happiness, etc. The cascading effect of thankfulness can also lead to better decision-making skills and learning ability. This is even more important during the turbulent times that we are living in.

Gratitude is not only applicable to materialistic things in our lives, but also to people. You can always thank people for how valuable they have been in your life and for society. This can help build trust and relationships with others. ‘Counting our blessings’ is a cliched term used for expressing gratitude. However, we should not forget that cliched things are not inevitably obsolete! Now, let us look at a few things that we take for granted and how we do not appreciate them enough.

1. Food:

Food is one of the most underrated things in our lives. We take eating three meals a day as a presupposition. Even if India is one of the largest food-producing nations globally, it is also home to one-third of the world’s malnourished children. The largest population of hungry people in the world are in our country. We do not value food enough and waste it. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) estimates that India loses or wastes nearly 40% of the food produced every year because of inefficient supply chains. Malnutrition and undernourishment are sad realities even today. Hence, we must realize the value of food and be grateful for having access to it.

2. Piped Water Supply:

Water is another resource that we consider as an absolute. As you can see from the above image, this is not the case. India’s impending water crisis could eventually lead to a GDP decline of about 6% (report by NITI Aayog). The report also mentions that three-fourths of rural Indians do not have piped, potable water and rely on contaminated sources that pose health concerns. Well, these are reasons for us to be thankful for having piped water in our homes. And to fix leaky taps at the earliest, of course!

3. Shelter:

Home sweet home! Do you know that there are more than a million homeless people in our nation? These include the elderly, differently-abled, women, children, etc. This makes privacy a far-fetched dream for them, along with other serious issues. Severe weather poses a grave threat to homeless people. These are a few of the reasons for you to appreciate the value of having a roof over your head.

4. Literacy:

If you can understand what I have been writing so far… I can safely assume that you are literate. Do you know that there are over 773 million illiterate adults around the world and over 35% of them are in India? Many of us do not comprehend the real value of education. ‘Information is wealth’ is not an understatement. We need to make sure that we achieve our full potential by using education as a tool and help others as well.

5. Human rights and democracy:

Human rights are ensured in our nation through a remarkably powerful and independent judiciary along with a vibrant civil society, media, etc. Unfortunately, there are countries that have an authoritarian regime or remain a democracy just on paper. There are nations where women may not have an equal place in society. The press is muzzled, and free and fair elections remain an unfulfilled dream. However, we do not realize that India is one of the successful nations that has remained democratic after gaining Independence from colonial rule. The international community has credited the Election commission of India for holding free and fair elections on a massive scale.

6. Our Rich heritage:

India is amongst the top 10 countries in the world in terms of the number of World Heritage Sites. We have a rich cultural and natural heritage, including world-famous monuments. These include the Taj Mahal (it is one of the seven wonders of the world), the ‘Pink City’ (Jaipur), Konark’s Sun Temple, Qutub Minar, etc. Cultural heritage is also important for understanding social values, shared beliefs, historical significance, aesthetic values, etc. It also includes intangible elements, such as folklore, language, knowledge, customs, and beliefs. We can be thankful to our ancestors for leaving us with such a rich and varied cultural heritage. However, preserving it and passing it on to future generations lies in our hands.

7. Loved ones:

Scientific studies have shown that being in love causes our body to release feel-good hormones and neuro-chemicals that trigger specific, positive reactions. Almost all of us would have experienced love from our parents, relatives, friends, colleagues, or maybe even a stranger. As human beings, being able to express love for others is one of the unique abilities that we possess. We need to be thankful for having loved ones in our lives. 

8. Communication:

Communication is a skill that is unique to human beings. It has allowed us to make dramatic progress in various fields. It is our capacity for cooperation that has enabled us to rise to the top of the food chain on earth. Human language can arrange words into an infinite number of ideas. So let us be infinitely grateful for the infinite number of possibilities that exist for improving our lives…∞

So, If you liked this article and found some meaning in it to have growth in your life, then share it with your friends and people around you over social media to help them in finding meaning for their life