Gratitude is often an underrated and overlooked civility.
Expressing one’s thankfulness not only releases a blessing outward, toward the intended target, but it does something to one’s own energy. Don’t you always feel good after saying something affirming to another person, especially when it is in appreciation for something they’ve done?
Gratitude isn’t always expressed toward another person. Sometimes it is a feeling of appreciation that wells up in response to a life situation. Perhaps there’s a moment of thankfulness when you look out over a landscape, noting its beauty, intricacy or expansiveness?
Maybe it’s the sense of gratitude at the end of a long day, for having accomplished what you set out to do. Well done, you say to yourself.
Gratitude is one of those expressions that, when cultivated consciously, pays dividends in all directions.
I may never meet all the people who have read this magazine and benefited from its content, but I’m grateful for the opportunity I have had to communicate with all of you, and to have provided a platform for inspiring people to have a voice and be seen.
I’m grateful for my staff – those who are with me today and those who have been with me somewhere along the way. Together we have carried a vision and a hope that what we are doing is benefiting others and making this world a better place.
I have been very grateful over the past two years to my suppliers and connections in the community – who collaborated in countless ways to help me survive through some very challenging circumstances. Here we are, still standing, and ready to forge forward into the future.
I’m grateful for my health and wellbeing. This week I gave a ride to a dear friend who is undergoing chemo treatments. I felt so blessed to be a part of her healing journey in this small way. And very grateful that my body has sustained me all these years with relatively few complaints.
I’m grateful to my small circle of friends and colleagues… who make up the fabric of my social life and contribute such colour and texture and amplitude to it.
As we witness the turmoil in various parts of the world, I’m grateful when I wake every morning from a peaceful sleep, uninterrupted by bombs and missiles, knowing that there is plentiful delicious food waiting to be consumed, and knowing my loved ones are safe and protected. What a treasure this is.
The world most of us want to live in is built not on power or greed or corruption, but upon caring relationships where collaboration replaces competition. It’s increasingly more difficult to imagine a world in which war is an acceptable replacement for peace.
There is much for which to be grateful. For freedom, for health, for prosperity, for friendship.
Thank you to each and every one who has been part of INSPIRED Magazine. However close or distant your connection, I want you to know the gratitude I hold in my heart for you.
I’m glad we got to share this space together – to perhaps think about the things in our lives we take for granted and that are so worthy of our gratitude and appreciation.
If someone comes to mind that you haven’t said “Thank you” to in a while – perhaps this is a gentle reminder that there’s no time like the present. Make that call, send that email. Tell your barista or your grocery store clerk how much you appreciate their service. Tell your friend, partner, or family member how special they are to you.
May the energetic signature of gratitude spread far and permeate deep. May it become the handshake that crosses great divides and stirs us to see one another as friends instead of foes.
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