Being grateful will lead you to better accomplishments.
As I write those lines, on December 31st, most of the countries are in lock-down for the next two weeks. No school, no work, travelling, shopping, no gathering, nothing but staying at home.
I live in Canada, in Quebec, and, unfortunately, we keep breaking new records for people infected with Covid-19.
It is becoming awful, and most of us are more anxious than ever. What will happen in the next few months? Uncertainty becomes the only certainty we have now.
We are now close to 2M (1,807,331) deaths worldwide. Indeed something we never thought possible in our modern era.
It is far from being contained and controlled. Too many people are still too stubborn to see the obvious. But, we will certainly go through and, we must learn something from this tragedy. Each of us must take something positive from this past year.
For as long as I remember, we always saw terrible things happened in the third world and the poorest countries of our world. This time it is mostly us, the richest ones, who are struck by it. We took everything for granted for so long that we forgot the importance of life itself.
It seems that mother nature has decided to reclaim its rights, after all. We all knew it was only a matter of time for disaster to happen. Surprisingly it was not a natural one as expected. Unlike earthquakes, tornados, typhoons, volcano eruptions, this one is more devious. We cannot see or hear it coming.
That being said, I would rather see this past year as an opportunity for each human to become a better person and improve ourselves as human beings.
Are we going to learn something or just forget about what happened in a few months, after everything is back to normal?
Showing gratitude
As one of many things we’ve learned this past year is that there is a lot of great human beings out there — people who worked and still work hard for the rest of us.
The first ones we think about are the medical staff. They are working so hard and in unimaginable conditions. Of course, they are not perfect. The system in which they operate isn’t so, what to expect? I really thank them for being there. They should be afraid too, sometimes, I imagine. Just the fact that they do their duties even when most of us will give up, I give you a big hug and a large grateful smile.
“I smiled back, and I thought how incredible that was, that they would find the time to smile. There was goodness in the world still, even if you couldn’t always see it.”― Jenny Valentine, Broken Soup
Another group of people who have gained my respect this year are our leaders. Not all the time excellent, I agree but, I do not want to be in their shoes these days — one of the most demanding jobs. Trying to please everyone, prevent the economy from collapsing, make tough decisions to help our health care system survive this crisis and do everything in its power to protect people from this disease and sometimes, protect them from themselves. Not a rewarding job at the moment. Two thumbs up!
There is a really long list of people to thank this year and, I can’t think about all of them. There are many extraordinary people who are making a difference every day since the beginning of this pandemic. So for you out there from whom I do not know anything about, I warmly shake your hands!
Finally, I personally want to thank every one of you who respected the confinement rules. I don’t know, as you don’t either but, you may have saved some lives on the way. Maybe my own? Thank you a thousand times for showing me respect, even if you do not know me. It is most appreciated!
“Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…it makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” Melody Beattie
Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash
Final thoughts of this year and new ones for 2021
As we near the end, I hope you have gained something during this terrible year. At least if it just has more quality time with your loved ones, it is good.
For myself, I am grateful for this year. Don’t get me wrong; it was challenging and quite uncertain still, but it gave me all the time I needed to do many things I will probably never have done this year.
I had the time to make a lot of renovations that were a must. I had time to read and think about my life, my expectations and my goals. It helped me become more aware of what I took for granted. Most of all, I had time to write more and learn new things throughout the year.
I hope you do have some positive things in your life that you can point out of all this negative portrait of 2020.
I, so, encourage you to take the time to smile and thank the people around you who are making a difference in your life and who have become so acquired over the years that you no longer notice them. Just think about them.
It is time to start the new year as a better person than in the last one. We have everything in our hands to do so. Don’t miss the opportunity.
Being grateful for what you have and what you are is a powerful tool to use every day to evolve in your life.
Try not to argue too much about the others’ behaviours. Correct yours instead. You have control over yours only.
If you do not have a personal journal, start one this year and write down one thing you are grateful for each day. After a few times, you will see a change in your way of thinking about life.
Gratitude helps you become a better version of yourself. You want to be successful and have a good life, like most of us, so start changing your behaviour towards others. Your thoughts and actions make you who you are!
Gratitude is something you don’t see but feel. You can easily see the benefits of it on the others’ reactions. Also, it becomes contagious if you spread it out.
Let’s start a new pandemic in 2021. Let’s become generously contagious, being grateful!
I wish you all a great 2021!
Photo by Nora Schlesinger on Unsplash
“Tell people there’s an invisible man in the sky who created the universe, and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure”
― George Carlin