Take 1: World Gratitude day, 21 Sept 2022
I had been thinking about World Gratitude Day and Positive Psychology and how it affects one's mood and helps positive outcomes in day-to-day circumstances.
The thought of inculcating the habit of Being Grateful and its effects on oneself- the Physical, Mental, Physiological, Emotional as well as Spiritual, was stirring up quite a few things in me......
Positive psychology research has strongly and consistently associated Gratitude with greater feelings of Happiness. Gratitude helps us feel more positive and Being Grateful is an intentional and sincere practice of noticing the good in your life.
But I also realized that just one day every year, dedicated to being Grateful is totally insufficient to understand and experience Gratitude. It essentially has to be an Everyday Practice.
Being the most ardent fan of Indian Culture and Heritage, I was pretty confident that there would be a lot of Gratitude practises which were handed down to us, and knowingly-unknowingly, these practises would have had a positive effect on our minds.
In real life, keeping our traditions alive, Being Mindful of what they actually preach and applying the understanding to everyday Practice has been an " in- thing" for me.... Always!!
Whatever I practise in personal life, I always end up trying to find a connect between the Old and the New and this Journey of Joining the dots has always been very very rewarding.
With an absolutely heavy Heart, but with a fabulous Idea in my mind, I decided to rest and wait for one full year before I could share this with all of you.
I wanted to inculcate the habit of being Mindful and Grateful within myself and experience the difference before I said anything to others.
AND I wanted to do this very much the traditional way.
AND I wanted it to be related to food and Nutrition too, if possible.
It was tough, but I found my way out.......
I have been sincerely up to it for one full year, and it has still kept on stirring quite a few things in me.......
Take 2: World Gratitude Day 2023
Gratitude, in simple words for me is, a thankful, sincere appreciation for what we receive, tangible or intangible from the world around us.
Following verses have kept me on track and helped me to be Mindful and Grateful for the food I eat every day. A Simple act, that I have been always taking for granted so far, I now realize markedly.
It has helped me in Centering myself repeatedly and the realization that the efforts of so many people have gone into providing me with one meal is Profound......
वदनी कवळ घेता नाम घ्या श्री हरीचे।
सहज हवन होते नाम घेता फुकाचे ।।
जीवन करी जीवित्वा अन्न हे पूर्ण ब्रम्ह ।
उदर भरण नोहे जाणिजे यज्ञ कर्म।।
जनीं भोजनी नाम वाचे वदावे ।
अति आदरे गद्यघोषे म्हणावे ll
हरी चिंतने अन्न सेवित जावे ।
तरी श्रीहरी पाविजे तो स्वभावे ॥ - Samarth Ramdas
And
वदनी कवळ घेता नाम घ्या मातृ भूचे l
सहज स्मरण होते आपुल्या बांधवांचे ll
कृषीवल कृषिकर्मी राबती दिनरात l
श्रमिक श्रम करोनी वस्तू या निर्मितात ll
स्मरण करुनी त्यांचे अन्न सेवा खुशाल l
उदर भरण आहे चित्त होण्या विशाल ll - Sane Guruji
During this last year, the few things that have also stirred inside me are.....
Being Mindful of the efforts of Others, Appreciating & Acknowledging them, Improvement in general Mood, trying to Respond to stimuli than to React, Betterment in listening skills and Increased feelings of Joy.
This experience has again strengthened my belief in our traditional ways and in finding deeper meanings in what we casually practise otherwise.
Hoping this stirs up something inside you too.....
Wishing You all a Joyous World Gratitude Day, 2023.
And remember,
The best attitude to wear is Gratitude!!!
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