Notice When Your Cup Runs Over
Gratitude turns what we have into enough
A couple of months back I visited my birth country and as we explored places and enjoyed the time with family I couldn’t help but be so grateful for what I had, have and where I am in life even though I am striving for more - aren’t we all?. Then in a conversation with a colleague who had just visited India over the Christmas we both came to acknowledge this fact again. In that conversation we laughed about all the many things we would deem unacceptable but was totally the norm in the places we visited. Like being 30 minutes late for an appointment or sitting in a packed car with no belts. Yes how can you get away with such thing?
Well as we shared experiences we also acknowledged grievances that made us shift focus from talking about all the things in our immediate surroundings that weren’t working because in the grand scheme of things what was an annoying email compared to no network services or electricity? Or the coffee being cold and too strong compared to children begging on the streets for change to buy food? Or the office being too cold because the internal thermostat wasn’t working according to our individual preferences compared to people working in extremely hot temperatures without rest?
Oh yes I could go on but how can both of us originating from different heritages and traveling to different continents have an almost identical experience that did not only humble us but made us extremely grateful for what we have. You might call it a coincidence but I am past believing things happening as mere coincidences for I know all to well that the things we experience in life come to serve as reminders, lessons and teachings.
With humility and gratefulness, I took in all the experiences, the pleasant and not so pleasant, for as I mentioned above they were there for one of the 3 purposes. From this, I got a better understanding and appreciation for how others are trying their best with what they have. It made me realise that what I might consider a no-go was indeed the best option for someone all depending on our perspective and circumstance.
Yes the word again is perspective, I have even more so shifted my - Oh I am so fed up with this and that to hmm thank goodness I am experiencing this in my full capacity. Shifted the focus from - why all these emails to oh gosh I have an overworking network with all the emails coming through. Then from this office is so cold to well let me just put on another layer till the temperatures get to the desired.
If you know me well you know gratituding is a big part of my life but even now and again we all get caught up in the myriad of unpleasantries that makes us forget all the good in our lives. So getting back from my holidays and experiencing something I thought was so unacceptable, I paused and thought is this worth the frustration? Most of the times it hasn’t been and my colleague has also remarked on how she’s stopped expecting perfection and actually being OK with what is at the moment, not settling but OK.
My point here is showing appreciation for what I have now makes me believe that what I have is indeed have enough for me right here and now. In this present moment. So my encouragement to you the next time you truly feel frustrated about something, take a pause and think what is working in this situation for if it is the customer service rep you have on the line that isn’t being helpful know and acknowledge that you have that phone and network working to get through to someone and maybe you being kind against their hostility is a reminder for them in their job and a lesson for you in compassion. I would love to know in the comments what some of the humbling realisations you have had that made you appreciate what you already have.
Affirmation
I am grateful for the good in my life