Given our own personal challenges and all the unpleasant news surrounding us daily, it is understandable that we have become cynical and negative and indeed, that we forget there is actually any good in our world at all.
In the face of any disaster and even in our darkest hours, there is so much good amongst us and there are many, many things to be grateful for. We just have to shift the way we think to see it.
Our lives are witnessing the dawning of new times, new beginnings and new ways of experiencing our earth. We are leaving the past where it belongs and instead, looking to a future with hope – something that has been missing for so long now.
World leaders are changing, greed is destroying itself in the global crisis we are bearing witness to and finally, we are being surrounded by possibility and potential as opposed to persecution and intolerance. Our cinemas and book shop shelves are now holding new works of fantasy, mythology; dreaming and magic in remarkable numbers. We are devouring stories where individuals and goodness are triumphant and we are embracing a new way of thinking; that of hope.
And this, well this is simply fantastic! Love, kindness, compassion, courage, inner resolve, new belief structures – all are elements we are finally learning to appreciate, as we are now seeing them as being important in our lives, too.
We have so much to be grateful for. We ought to focus on that a lot more than we do. Our lives are not all bad. Nothing is all bad. In order to appreciate and understand the good, we need to experience its opposite. Every day, find one thing that you are grateful for and acknowledge it then watch how your perception of life changes shape.
Look to your loved ones, to your friends and to those you do not even know but who touch your heart in some way and be grateful for them. They deserve your thanks and appreciation. Witness the daily miracles where someone risks their life to save someone else, where someone is fulfilling a long held dream or even individuals who have defied all odds to succeed in what is important to them. In our own country, look closely at the enormous impact global compassion has had on those involved, for example in the devastating Victorian bushfires – remarkable real life heroes who extend a hand of kindness rather than one of fear and intolerance.
Humanity is evolving. Finally, amongst all the tragedies both personal and global, we are realising that people matter more than things. Finally, we are appreciating each other. Every time you are helped in some way, remember that unselfish act with gratitude. When we realise that life is not about personal gain, we understand what it means to be a part of the human race.
It takes but a moment to think appreciatively of another. Acts of kindness do change lives. No act of kindness is ever wasted when it has been acknowledged.
Surround yourself with nature – no matter where you are there is a kingdom around you to inspire you. Discover what is beautiful to you, be it a child’s laughter, a thunder storm, a floral perfume, the latest model car, walking in the rain, sharing a joke with friends or reading a good book whilst curled up on a couch – whatever makes you smile and your heart feel glad, discover it. Once you know what you think is beautiful, you will see it everywhere.
What you look for, you shall see. What you acknowledge and are grateful for, you shall have more of. Focus on what you have, not what you do not and be grateful for all that exists already.
Find as many things as you can to appreciate so you can feel the goodness in your own world. Tell someone you appreciate them because you do and not because you think you should. Be kind because you care and not because you have to. Love with all your heart because you can not because of expectation or gain.
And to you: May your life be one beautiful moment after another where in each day of your life; you pay attention to the little things that make the most difference to you.
