“It is not happiness that makes us grateful, it is gratefulness that makes us happy.”
~ Brother David Steindl-Rast, Benedictine Monk
According to David Steindl-Rast, gratitude can be found in 3 easy steps — the same steps to crossing a street. Earlier this year, I created 3 Simple Steps to Balance. (Check out my prior post.) On the path to gratitude, his 3 steps are similar but even simpler. I love when truth shows up in different ways, especially in simplicity.
3 Steps to Gratitude (3 Steps to Crossing the Street):
- Stop
- Look
- Go
(1) Stop! Slow down. Get quiet. (2) Look! Get present. Open up the senses. Open to the opportunity to be grateful. (3) Go. Find the flow. Take the opportunity to be grateful. Enjoy the richness of the moment.
Finding gratitude in the richness of each moment is the path to happiness.
How can we be grateful for bad THINGS?
While there are bad THINGS in this world that we often cannot be grateful for, we can still find gratefulness for the OPPORTUNITY that arises in each moment, even if it is just gratitude for the next breath. Escape the trap of gratitude for THINGS and always looking for the next THING, but find gratitude for the OPPORTUNITY that those THINGS give you.
Gratitude is the path to happiness. Gratitude is the path to finding Balance in life.