Being grateful for what you have

Today in the UK it is, surprise, surprise, pouring with rain. It’s been wet all day here in the south west. It defies all our expectations, especially those with memories of long, hot Julys, seeking shade where possible, sitting out in the evening with a gin & tonic or beer or whatever, and hot nights. We have an expression, “it never rains but it pours”, as though when we get rain, we do really get it. It also means that when you get trouble, you really get it. What do they say, trouble comes in threes? Talk about a set-up for unwanted things to happen.

Even the meteorologists have a word for our wet weather; they call it a depression! It’s as though we’ve given our negative moods to the weather, or we think the weather conditions how we feel. There’s also another weather expression, “some walk in the rain, others get wet”. It depends on how you view it.

In India, they deliberately go into the hills before the monsoons, to where it’s cold and wet, to escape the heat and the humidity of the cities and plains. The monsoons are welcomed as a boon after the long hot summers. A different view.

It is worth sparing a thought too for all those drought-stricken areas on the planet, which are expanding with climate change. Some might gladly swap places.

It can be hard to think how lucky we are here to have plentiful supplies of water, freely given. Complaining about the weather is a national pastime. Conversations start with it.

But have you ever tried starting your conversation with, “How good it is to have this rain”? Of course not, you might think, are you mad?!

Perhaps you could have this thought instead: how lucky I am to be given bountiful supplies of water, to drink, to grow my food, to refresh me when I am thirsty, to clean myself, my clothes, my family, my house, my car, to help me cook, to supply industry which employs people and creates wealth, to fill our rivers and lakes, and so on.

To express appreciation for what we have does not easily come to mind. We are more often focused on what we do not have, the belief that “there is not enough”, scarcity consciousness. This is a contracted place. Yet saying thank you, expressing gratitude, being grateful, is an open-hearted gesture. It is a giving, from the heart. It expresses abundance and in return it attracts abundance. In doing so, we move from consciousness of lack to that of abundance. It is expansive. We nurture the cycle of giving and receiving, we acknowledge and value others and nature. We express pleasure in what we have. And we open ourselves up to the flow of abundance coming back to us.

So, perhaps try having a day of gratitude. Start by thinking of all that you are grateful for; write a gratitude list. They call it “counting your blessings”. Then focus deliberately on saying thank you to people. Take any opportunity to acknowledge others. Notice what you value in others and say it, like you mean it. Be generous. Give something to charity. And think of those who need help, and imagine yourself sending them energy of healing and abundance. Most of all, you could practice giving your love to others, the most powerful positive energy that there is. Give it unconditionally, with no expectation of anything back in return, because you care and that’s it. So, when you appreciate someone or say thank you, say it with love.

And notice your heart fill up. Love is abundant.

Not for nothing do Indian sadhus practice unconditional seva, the practice of selfless service to the guru, that they may know the joy of the Self, of Atman, within.

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