Gratitude: The Right Attitude
As a Muslim, I know I say Al Hamdulillah, a phrase used to thank Allah, a lot. I'm sure most of you do too. However, do we just say it, or do we actually feel it? Do we actually feel thankful for everything we have? If you are reading this, you probably have a place to call home, a considerable amount of food and water in your kitchen, money in your wallet, and dozens of pieces of clothing in your closet; I would also like to think that you are relatively healthy. Congradulations, you are among the top 8% of Earth's 6 billion citizens. That percentage, believe it or not, is very close to the acceptance rate of Harvard College. So yes, you are extremely lucky. Be thankful.
In the world we live in, with all the technology and advancement, everything we could ever need or want is within our reach. Things people a couple of centuries ago dreamt of, we could now get in an instant. Almost none of us have to stuggle as much as our ancestors had to in order to achieve something. Yet, those people did things most of us are not even bothered to do. And when I say us, I mean the top 8% of the world, you and me included. They probably didn't have half of the technology we have today to aid them, yet they did things, we wouldn't even think of.
For example, the internet, a great invention created not long ago, was built for mulitary purposes. It opened great possiblities for many different fields. However, when you come to think of it, what do most of us do with it? Youtube, Facebook, Instant Messaging (IM), gaming, downloading music and movies, etc. The list of useless things we happen to use the internet for is endless. Probably the only useful thing we use the internet for is when we start writing that research paper we've been assigned several weeks back. Remember those scholars who lived several centuries back? They travelled for months to learn small pieces of information, not for school or college, but for themselves. All we have to do is press "Google Search", but apparently that is more tiring than months of travel. That is the reason we procrastinate in doing our work right?
The tools are right in front of us, everything is available. We just don't do anything with it. I'm sure those who lived before us would've loved to have the tools we have today.
Now I'm sure you're all saying, what does all that have to do with grattitude? Well just in case you don't know, gratitude is not just saying thank you. Yes, people do say that a simple thank you can make a difference, but this is not what I mean. How would you feel if you spent time and effort in cooking some lunch for a group of friends, who after being served simply said, "No thanks, we're not hungry". Technically, they did say thank you. However, they were not thankful for the food they were served; that is what makes the whole difference. Gratitude is not just saying thanks, its by showing thanks. One of the subheadings in a chapter of a book I'm currently reading says, "A World of Abundance Yet an Attitude of Lack". What the author means by that is that everything is available, in abundance and in excess, yet all we think about is what we lack and don't have. We are seldom grateful for anything.
Since we are the among the top 8% on this planet, we should act like it. It is obvious that many of us do not act that way, otherwise we would know the names of over 480 million people, considering that they would've all done something big with the resources they have. Similarly, I do not think that all the Harvard College graduates do something exceptional, as you would think of Harvard graduates. Wouldn't it be such a waste to see someone who got into Harvard, not try their best in university and then get an average job anyone else could easily get? You might say that the person did not deserve to get into Harvard; well, maybe you don't deserve to be one of the elite 8% of the world, since most of us do exactly what that Harvard student does. That particular Harvard student was not grateful for being part of that small percentage that did get into the prestigous university many dream of getting into; likewise, many of us are not being grateful for being among the top 8% on Earth.
We should be.
In the world we live in, with all the technology and advancement, everything we could ever need or want is within our reach. Things people a couple of centuries ago dreamt of, we could now get in an instant. Almost none of us have to stuggle as much as our ancestors had to in order to achieve something. Yet, those people did things most of us are not even bothered to do. And when I say us, I mean the top 8% of the world, you and me included. They probably didn't have half of the technology we have today to aid them, yet they did things, we wouldn't even think of.
For example, the internet, a great invention created not long ago, was built for mulitary purposes. It opened great possiblities for many different fields. However, when you come to think of it, what do most of us do with it? Youtube, Facebook, Instant Messaging (IM), gaming, downloading music and movies, etc. The list of useless things we happen to use the internet for is endless. Probably the only useful thing we use the internet for is when we start writing that research paper we've been assigned several weeks back. Remember those scholars who lived several centuries back? They travelled for months to learn small pieces of information, not for school or college, but for themselves. All we have to do is press "Google Search", but apparently that is more tiring than months of travel. That is the reason we procrastinate in doing our work right?
The tools are right in front of us, everything is available. We just don't do anything with it. I'm sure those who lived before us would've loved to have the tools we have today.
Now I'm sure you're all saying, what does all that have to do with grattitude? Well just in case you don't know, gratitude is not just saying thank you. Yes, people do say that a simple thank you can make a difference, but this is not what I mean. How would you feel if you spent time and effort in cooking some lunch for a group of friends, who after being served simply said, "No thanks, we're not hungry". Technically, they did say thank you. However, they were not thankful for the food they were served; that is what makes the whole difference. Gratitude is not just saying thanks, its by showing thanks. One of the subheadings in a chapter of a book I'm currently reading says, "A World of Abundance Yet an Attitude of Lack". What the author means by that is that everything is available, in abundance and in excess, yet all we think about is what we lack and don't have. We are seldom grateful for anything.
Since we are the among the top 8% on this planet, we should act like it. It is obvious that many of us do not act that way, otherwise we would know the names of over 480 million people, considering that they would've all done something big with the resources they have. Similarly, I do not think that all the Harvard College graduates do something exceptional, as you would think of Harvard graduates. Wouldn't it be such a waste to see someone who got into Harvard, not try their best in university and then get an average job anyone else could easily get? You might say that the person did not deserve to get into Harvard; well, maybe you don't deserve to be one of the elite 8% of the world, since most of us do exactly what that Harvard student does. That particular Harvard student was not grateful for being part of that small percentage that did get into the prestigous university many dream of getting into; likewise, many of us are not being grateful for being among the top 8% on Earth.
We should be.
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