A Grateful Heart Over a Grumbling Mind
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The definitive epitome of the pessimistic and grumbling attitude of the human mind can be precisely depicted by the manner in which people describe a partly filled glass of milk. 10% of the people would say “Wow, an empty glass half full of milk”, whereas the rest of the 90% would certainly grumble saying, “Jeez Someone has drunk half of the milk in this glass”.
The secret of happiness could be found in an attitude of appreciation. It is adequate to look up at a role model so that you could direct your journey of life successfully, but the misery begins the moment you start comparing yourself with others. Grumbling and Gratitude are historical enemies, they are in war with each other since the inception of the world. The good news I would like to share with you today is that, if you are the landlord and you are the farmer subsequently you deserve the liberty of determining which seed you must sow, if it should be the seed of grumbling or the seed of gratitude.
A grumbling tongue, is a comprehensive portrayal of an ungrateful heart. Happiness and Misery are the respective outcomes of seeds known as gratitude and grumbling.
Words are processed thoughts. Similar to a production appliance, whatever you take in to your mind, is then processed inside your heart and it produces its outcome from the tongue.
Therefore you must be completely aware of what enters your mind. As I mentioned earlier, you are the farmer of your own garden of life. A number of TV channels have been banned in my house as they are so venomous that they constantly speak of only the thorns of the rose and not about the rose.
Comprehending the weaknesses of something allows you to improve yourself, therefore I am not saying that you should not assess the weaknesses of something. What I am saying is that you should not build your house of life on a foundation of grumbling, because the outcome would always end up miserably.
As a CEO, I evidently contemplate the weaknesses, purely for the purpose of transforming them in to strengths, but not to keep grumbling about it night and day.
The bitter cup of it is, if you possess a grumbling mind during your pregnancy it is said that there is a strong possibility for your baby to be born with an ungrateful attitude. The good news is that if you decide to transform, then you are definitely in power of altering the original version of yourself. I was a person who always grumbled about what I did not have rather than appreciating what I am blessed with. Fortunately one day I understood that my grumbling mind is not going to instill happiness in me, it merely cultivates misery in me.
I always complained about the food I was served with until one day I was forced to eat rice with dry fish bones, that day I understood how good the food my innocent father provided for us with his untiring commitment. When I contemplated where I went adrift, I realised that it happened as a result of comparing my food to the food of my friends from rich families at St. Joseph’s College. When I was begging in the streets, I understood how precious my home is, even though it was nothing compared to the mansions my friends lived in.
The chaos initiates when you apply your neighbour’s lifestyle as the benchmark of your happiness. Whereas your happiness should not be measured compared to your neighbour but in comparison to who you were yesterday.
I am in utmost bliss in life as I compare myself to who I was yesterday and not with my friends. It is acceptable to look unto victorious people so that you could set forth your life objectives but you should never use their status to decide your level of success in life.
I was born to a very poor family thus I came to this world with nothing, I am more than happy for what I have achieved today. I am an esteemed CEO, who can easily be rated as an extremely successful personality in comparison to who I was before.
If I measure my happiness based on a tycoon, who has many folds of achievements then I will be disappointed with myself.
So, the secret of happiness is not based on what you have, it is based on how you think of what you have. When the second chapter of my life began, I was unemployed, I did not possess a single perch of land, I had no professional certification nor did I even have a bank account.
Nevertheless I was content with myself as I was free from the slavery of heroine, sexual immorality, pride and many other destructive poisons. Even the only vegetable roti I ate, tasted delicious as I did not have to journey through a bitter mind and heart of slavery. How many of you are in possession of an opulent meal on your plate, yet lack happiness?
Do you realise that for every five minutes you grumble, you lose five minutes of happiness? Contrary, every five minutes of gratefulness will submerge you in the river of happiness for five minutes. How many hours a day are you in misery as for your grumbling attitude?
The day you make the decisions of your life based on who you were yesterday, over what others possess, you will attain the possibility to develop a grumble proof mind and a gratitude prone heart. If you can satisfy your taste buds with dry fish and jackfruit, then it is unnecessary for you to tell your mind that you need turkey to delight yourself. Similarly, if you look your best wearing a shirt worth Rs. 2,000/-, do not mislead your mind that you would only look smart if you wear a branded shirt worth Rs. 25,000/-.
Why do you want to manipulate your own mind with regard to the parameters of success and happiness of others?
My wife makes it a point to teach my daughter Esther to be grateful even for the simplest toffee she receives. Whenever our children grumble about the good food we provide for them, we show them the sorrowful pictures of poor children in Haiti, who are struggling in hunger, collecting scraps of food from the garbage cans. The moment you train your mind to be grateful, you are invariably developing a grumble proof mind.
Training your mind to reject grumbling thoughts, instinctively cultivates a heart of gratitude. Teach your children to seek the validation of their conscious than the validation of their peers.
Our decisions should not be based on other people because our decisions should complement our wallet and not others wallets. It is acceptable to make decisions based on what others say if they are investing on your dreams. You are the farmer of your land, therefore you should invest in your dreams thus your dreams should depend on your capacity and not on somebody else’s capacity.
Sometime back when I was in need of buying a pen, a friend of mine suggested me to buy a Mont Blanc which was around Rs. 180,000/-, I decided to buy a Parker which costed around Rs. 25,000/-. My decision was purely based on advancing from the Rs. 60/- ballpoint pen that I was using, and not the costly pen another wealthy man was using at that moment. Therefore, decide to cultivate a grateful heart over a grumbling mind. You will attain the luxury of walking in peace and contentment.
Many people have enforced themselves into dilemmas by setting their dreams based on others expectations. Are you or your children wallowed with grumbling attitudes?
Then why not make a decision today to re-soil your garden of life and sow fresh seeds of gratitude.
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