In the 1980s I used to get chain letters which I had to forward to a certain number of people. Then in the 1990s I started getting “chain emails” which I had to forward to a certain number of people. Now I get tagged on Facebook with something that I am supposed to do and tag other people. Most of these, particularly the ones I got when I was younger suggested that horrible things would happen to me if I failed to comply. I remember having conversations with my parents about these chain letters, trying to figure out who had sent them, why they had chosen me, and who I should inflict this irritating and stressful process upon!
I was tagged just over a week ago on Facebook, with one of these. I have to say that my first thought was annoyance, because I don’t like to “inflict” those tags on others because I find myself second guessing whether they would find it annoying & frankly I don’t need that extra thinking in my life right now! The tag asked me to write three things everyday that I was grateful for, and to tag three people every day. I have learned in life to pick the stuff that works for me, but to leave the rest, so I committed to the daily gratitude practices but did not tag anyone else. I knew it’s value. I used to be a committed daily gratitude practitioner.
My abandonment of my gratitude practice began in February when my beloved cousin died of leukemia, which made me so sad and angry and yet reminded me of the preciousness of life. As I was coming out of that cloud, my husband and I separated. My beautiful gold journal, given to me by someone very important had been lying abandoned. I was angry and hurt and upset and thought f*** gratitude!
Yet, this practice, which I stuck to for 7 days was transformational. It made me feel good, really good and sparked my desire to dig out my beautiful gold gratitude journal again. Intellectually, I knew the value of gratitude practices – research shows that people who have a daily gratitude practice are nicer to live with – they treat those around them with more compassion. For me, I was lucky enough to be prompted to get back into it. The friend who tagged me knew that I was having a hard time as I started to get used to realities of my new life. I am re-committing to this habit. Give it a try – what have you got to lose?
His Holiness the Dalai Lama
“When you practice gratefulness, there is a sense of respect toward others”
You want to read more on gratitude? Check out these blog posts!
Tamsin Astor-Jack writes at www.tamsinastor.com/blog
©Tamsin Astor-Jack, Yoga Brained LLC