via JamesWoodward.wordpress.com
Living in what's considered a third world country has taught me a lot about gratitude.
A little boy stands outside the bar looking in on us eating big plates of greasy food.
An old woman from the mountains carries a huge pack of trash on her back and picks through the leftovers on the street.
I hear a conversation about families who send their children to school, but end up taking them out to sell the uniforms for food. Some children go to school with empty stomachs, expecting only one meal for the entire day.
People brush their teeth with sand.
And what happened to the people in the mountains when the typhoon hit? Some survived, but most probably didn't.
And that's all a lot of people all over the world do every day - just survive.
We could give them books on prosperity and tell them to repeat affirmations and teach them the law of attraction, but would any of that make any sense? Would it make a difference? Seems kind of silly in that situation.
What am I learning more than anything by being here? Gratitude. And not just that, but that it's not optional and that it's not just a way to attract more of what I want. Gratitude is as simple as saying thank you, from the bottom of my heart and genuinely feeling it. Not because it will get me what I want, but because I already have it. I already have more than most people in the world ever will.
I have hot water and a bed and a roof, toilet paper, blankets and pillows, several pairs of shoes, a toothbrush and toothpaste. I don't worry about whether I get to eat tomorrow or if my sandals will break - I can buy a new pair.
And that's why, dearest reader, I must say that if you're reading this right now, you already have a beautiful life. You are enough, you have enough, and there's every reason to be grateful.
A little boy stands outside the bar looking in on us eating big plates of greasy food.
An old woman from the mountains carries a huge pack of trash on her back and picks through the leftovers on the street.
I hear a conversation about families who send their children to school, but end up taking them out to sell the uniforms for food. Some children go to school with empty stomachs, expecting only one meal for the entire day.
People brush their teeth with sand.
And what happened to the people in the mountains when the typhoon hit? Some survived, but most probably didn't.
And that's all a lot of people all over the world do every day - just survive.
We could give them books on prosperity and tell them to repeat affirmations and teach them the law of attraction, but would any of that make any sense? Would it make a difference? Seems kind of silly in that situation.
What am I learning more than anything by being here? Gratitude. And not just that, but that it's not optional and that it's not just a way to attract more of what I want. Gratitude is as simple as saying thank you, from the bottom of my heart and genuinely feeling it. Not because it will get me what I want, but because I already have it. I already have more than most people in the world ever will.
I have hot water and a bed and a roof, toilet paper, blankets and pillows, several pairs of shoes, a toothbrush and toothpaste. I don't worry about whether I get to eat tomorrow or if my sandals will break - I can buy a new pair.
And that's why, dearest reader, I must say that if you're reading this right now, you already have a beautiful life. You are enough, you have enough, and there's every reason to be grateful.
