Exercising Gratitude

Last week my grandmother fell very, very ill. We all thought she would die.

I spent 2 days beside her, holding her hand, seeing her state degrade hour by hour. Friends came to visit. Old acquaintances passed by. Relatives called every minute, crying.

And somewhere, my grandmother found the strength to come back. With half her body paralysed, unable to speak, she pushed herself and came back. She is now able to walk by herself, with support, and talk almost intelligibly.

The energy to break your limits doesn’t come from the ones around you.

As much as we’d like to believe, energising is not created by cheerleaders. It’s an internal ability of the players.

What creates this ability?

We had all given up hope. After all, grandma was old. We tried to gently push her back when she tried to stand by herself. But she would try and try again.

The energy comes from within, the power to energise yourself comes from within.

And the most effective fuel is gratitude.

I’ve always felt a bit uneasy when it comes to encouraging. It seemed as though the cheering up is unnatural.

“That’s great!” “Good job!” “Excellent!” …

That’s about the end of my “encouragement” vocabulary.

But now I see that gratitude is the best form of energising.

Exercise gratitude. Appreciate what you’re given. Appreciate the ones around – see what they give to you and be thankful for the value you get out of it.

Be grateful for the value you see created, if not for you as a person, for the others, or for ‘the greater good’.

That’s the easiest and most effective form of creating internal motivation on the other side.

If you’re feeling stuck, or lacking motivation, look at your project and ask yourself:

- What motivated you first, when you started?

- What would make you feel better about your work now?

- What are you grateful for, or appreciate, in your work?

I am grateful to my grandmother for showing me how powerful intention can be. I will never forget her strong will and hope I inherited at least a small part of it.

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Tagged as: energising, gratitude, Motivation, personal stories, suffering