Gratitude

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The other day, I was having lunch with my office friends.  One of my friends got 3 different tiffin boxes. The flat box had parathas and pickles, the round one was filled with lemon rice and the smallest with salad. I was so envious coz all I was having was a plate of Maggi (High on carbohydrate and ‘0’ nutritional value). To add to my dismay, he took out a small packet of homemade cookies sealed in a visible transparent plastic, well covered and stapled. I could not help but ask who prepared his lunch. He promptly replied that his mom did. I realized how much she loved him and all she wanted him was to survive another day in the battle field (uh… that would be our office!!). I asked ‘I hope, you thank your mother for all her efforts and love.’ He looked surprised and said ‘Ahh…No…Infact, I don’t like it… too much love.. don’t you know, too much of anything is not good <wink> ’. Trust me, when he said this, I was so furious that I wanted to lift the butter knife, cry out loud ‘Sparta!!!!!!!’ and stab him.

I am not trying to be a feminist here (although, sometimes I do!) But, shouldn’t we be grateful about small things in life? Simple things like, your mom preparing food for you; your friend calling you to ask how you are doing; or your child calling to ask when you will be back from office. Why is it that, we take everything in life for granted?  There are so many things that we don’t even acknowledge for, such as - being born perfectly normal (1 out of 33 babies are born with a birth defect ), having a chance to be educated (Adult literacy rate in Nepal is 60%), getting a job (54.8% of the population in India is unemployed), having  hair in our head (56 million people in the  U.S. population  have experienced hair loss; which is about twice the population of Nepal!!) , getting to marry the person you love (statistics not available, however, this rate would definitely be less!!)

We measure the happiness in our lives by looking at the ‘big stuffs’ like achievement and success. But, what’s the use of all these accomplishment if we can’t even respect the small things in life? If we can’t be grateful to our parents who might have invested everything in us, all their lives, keeping aside their plans for retirement..If we can’t be thankful to our partner who has always kept our priorities at first, giving up on their own.. If we can’t be grateful to our friends and mentors for being with us through thick and thin…If we can’t appreciate the government’s scheme to provide free primary education to children.. if we can’t be grateful for getting this life which has given us so much..



“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” –Melody Beattie

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