Have you ever had your young child get separated from you in a very large crowd? You look around in panic and all you can see are thousands of faces of strangers ……. adult strangers. Your throat goes dry, sweat pours down your face as you spin around calling the name of your child, but you cannot be heard over the roar of the crowd. Raw primeval unbridled fear washes over you rendering you unable to move. The world seems to be spinning around you. Tears flow, panic, helplessness and feeling isolation happen all at once like an angry ocean smashing against the rocks. Then you hear “Mummy”, and you look towards the voice and there is your child smiling being carried towards you by a stranger. Relief followed by pure gratitude washes over you.

Gratitude, in this instance is a powerful, visceral emotion. However, we often do not take the time to acknowledge the many  smaller instances of gratitude we encounter in our daily lives.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, gratitude is simply “the state of being grateful.”Thanklessness deprives people of the emotional rewards of gratitude.  According to Dr. Robert Emmons, the feeling of gratitude involves two stages (2003):

1.       “First comes the acknowledgment of goodness in one’s life. In a state of gratitude, we say yes to life. We affirm that all in all, life is good, and has elements that make worth living, and rich in texture. The acknowledgment that we have received something gratifies us, both by its presence and by the effort the giver put into choosing it.

2. Second, gratitude is recognizing that some of the sources of this goodness lie outside the self. One can be grateful to other people, to animals, and to the world, but not to oneself. At this stage, we recognize the goodness in our lives and who to thank for it—that is, who made sacrifices so that we could be happy.

The two stages of gratitude comprise the recognition of the goodness in our lives and then how this goodness came to us externally. By this process, we recognize the luck of everything that makes our lives and ourselves better.”

In this pandemic COVID-19 era we are all living through, it is easy to overlook or ignore the instances in our lives that we should be grateful for and acknowledge that gratitude or thankfulness to ourselves, loved ones, or work colleagues. So many of us have forgotten the art of being appreciative of or grateful for the big and small things in our lives. Family, work, volunteerism, , friends all converge to make our lives extremely busy, so oftentimes most of us forget to pause and really take time to express our genuine gratitude or appreciation.

My contribution today is to remind us of some of the things for which one can happily express one’s gratitude:

1.      Good health

2.     Your child’s smile of joy at seeing you

3.     Fresh air, warm breezes, starry night

4.     For friends who make you laugh

5.     Enjoying a delicious meal made just for you

6.     Music that makes you smile and snap your fingers

7.     Having fresh clean water to drink

8.     The gift of sight

9.  Surviving and near mis-accident

10.   Getting a visit from an old class mate from high school

11.  Getting help from a stranger

12.  The smell of fresh baked bread

What are some of the things you have gratitude for?