Gratitude increases happiness

On Sunday morning, I wanted to go for a bike ride on the San Tomas Aquino Creek Trail from Monroe Street in Santa Clara to Milpitas.  But my bike tires were flat and with the rain clouds looming overhead, I thought a brisk walk, before the rain, would have to suffice.  As I walked it occurred to me that every time I wanted to bicycle, my bike was ready and the weather was fine.  I expected it to be so and it was…until it wasn’t. 

As if underscoring this point, on Tuesday I was doing Reiki on a client when she said “guess what happened today?” Grinning, she said “today I had a shower…after one year of sponge baths! I can’t tell you how great that felt.” I wondered had she ever thought there would be a time in her life when she would have been this happy to take a shower?

We all overlook the things that bring us pleasure, or make the day easier, or help us feel better; this is our nature.  It seems it is easier for us to pay attention to what doesn’t work rather than what does work. But if we pay attention to even just one thing that makes us feel good in a day, we’ll feel a lightness enter our beings.  For e.g. if you love going to work because you feel are living your life’s purpose, or if you are able to reach down and pick up your child for a peck on the cheek, or if you can wrap your hand around your coffee cup and feel its warmth, then these are things to be grateful for.  Happiness and joy visit us in these easily missed moments.   

When we begin this practice of being thankful for what went well or made us feel good in a day, then we become even more open and receptive to such moments in life.  And the truly remarkable thing about noticing what is going right is that it makes us feel better about ourselves, other people and life in general.  And when we feel good, it is easy for us to be kind to those around us.

 So even if it seems like there’s absolutely nothing working in your life, look again and you’ll discover in this moment you are breathing and you are alive. And that is a lot to be thankful for.