Perception and gratitude go hand-in-hand.
What I mean by this, is our level of gratitude depends on how we look at life. We may be ungrateful because the job we have doesn't pay what we think we're worth. But we can also take a look around us at those who don't have work. Those who don't have any marketable skills. Those who don't have enough people skills to get along with others so they can get a job. When we look at their situation our circumstances don't look so bad. Do they?
So our perception really controls everything. If we're feeling that our life is not going well, we can look around at others whose lives are really terrible. They may be ill. They may have gotten divorced. They may have lost their job. If we're observant, we can always see others who have circumstances that make ours look very pleasant and desirable. Our perception is in charge.
Or we can stay in our comfortable nest of self-pity and compare our lives with those who are doing well. Those who own big mansions, vacation homes at the beach, and have a pile of money in the bank. And if we play that comparison game we're all going to come out feeling negative and less than.
For me, the best perspective is to look at the larger world. If I do that I realize I have it very well. Because most of the people in the world live on just a few dollars a day. Many of them live in fear of terrorists. Or in a remote part of the world where getting clean water each day is a major project. Their daily lives are a struggle to find enough to eat, to get adequate medical care, be able to feed their children. With this perspective, I can always find room in my life for gratitude.
But with the wrong perception, I have no room for gratitude.
And if I don't have room for gratitude, I may one day find myself doing something really negative and I don't even want to start down that road.
Click here to email John
