The famous poet Rumi, said; “Wear gratitude like a cloak and it will feed every corner of your life”.
Many of us have experienced anxious or fearful thoughts from time to time during the Covid 19 crisis and given how little we know about this disease these fears in the face of an unpredictable and unknown enemy are indeed understandable.
Fear and anxiety can be paralysing. So how do we get to a neutral place of calm and acceptance and beyond? How do we get to that place where we experience grace on a day to day basis? One way is to practice ‘gratitude’ in our lives and to focus on ‘what we have’, rather than what we lack.
Scientific evidence shows that if we take notice and focus on the things that we are thankful for, even in the face of obstacles and difficulty, then this naturally induces a more positive state of mind. The influx of a chemical called dopamine in the brain sets of a chain reaction that ignites the benefits of gratitude. We sleep better; sleep naturally means that we are more relaxed and as a result we feel more alive. Every cell in our body is in direct communication with our feelings, when we feel gratitude, there is a positive physical impact on our hearts and nervous systems… reducing fear and anxiety.
These are challenging times. A third of the world’s population are in some kind of lockdown at the moment and the psychological effects of that are being felt by all. Financial hardship topped with feelings that we are being ‘deprived’ of our basic freedom can lead to low mood and irritability, even depression. Losing a loved one or friend on top of that can send us into a spiralling descent of grief and despair.
We may find ourselves becoming overly self-focused. So just stop for a moment and think about what ‘gratitude’ means. Gratitude encourages the complete opposite… it takes the focus off ‘the self’ and what may be going on in our own world and it directs it outwards… to the bigger picture, to thinking about others and how they may be affected also. Support for each other stimulates empathy and encourages kindly acts…. We start to see the light in the darkness, the joy in the despair… the Grace that comes from feeling gratitude.
This week I personally experienced an overwhelming state of gratitude in getting my 19 year old son safely back on English soil after he became stranded on the other side of the world during lockdown. When he started displaying the Covid 19 symptoms and was short term hospitalised, I found it so hard to rise above the fear and anxiety of the moment. But for the kindness, the support and the distant healing of people both near and far, I don’t where we would be. Eventually he was safely guided home, for which I am so grateful … and I have felt the grace in this reunion.
We all want this situation to be over. But perhaps there are many things we can be thankful for right now; for the doctors and nurses supporting those people who are sick; for the Government’s decision to save human lives over an ever threatened economy; for our Police system; for the neighbourhood Angels in disguise helping vulnerable people with shopping and medicines; for the unprecedented acts of kindness; for the extra family time this has given us and the strengthened communication; for the ability to improve our skills through online study courses…. And even for the temperate weather (certainly in the UK)
And for so much more!
So be grateful on this day. Bless your life and the things you have to be thankful for! And don’t just say it once… say it again… and again… and again.
“Gratitude turns what we have into enough”.
Love & light
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