The Meaning and Fulfilment of Gratitude
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Time, and ageing, cross all cultures and societies. They are universal. Similarly, both time and growing older take on new meaning when we are involved in activities that fill us up. Have you noticed how time drags when you are drowning in drudgery, yet it flies past when you are immersed in something purposeful?
We live in a world that seems to obsess over appearances and material ownership, yet we often yearn for something deeper with more meaning. This is found when we drop into our moments and fully appreciate the beauty and majesty around us in the environment, or when we nurture our friendships, or mourn the loss of a loved one or celebrate the joy of birth.
There is much divine presence and beauty in our troubled world, and we must stay open to this even during our challenges, in order to feel anchored while in the midst of the storms of life.
In his book, Man’s search for Meaning, Victor Frankl, an Auschwitz survivor, discussed how he realised that the only thing that kept prisoners from despair was that they were able to find some sense of meaning, usually in the form of helping other prisoners.
As we grow older, our desire to cherish time and use it wisely becomes more and more foundational to how we live. There is a strong calling to increase our service to our families and communities because this is a meaningful way for us to use our time well. We must never buy into the myth that life becomes irrelevant after a certain age.
We can find deep meaning in all past experiences too, which allows us to change any unhelpful narratives we continually carry, turning them into rich additions to our stories, for which we can be grateful.
This also offers us a sense of fulfilment that gives our time, and age, significance and it is up to each of us to pursue this right up until we take our last breath.
Brother David Steindl-Rast, a co-founder of the global non-profit, A Network for Grateful Living, says:
What counts on your path to fulfilment is that we remember the great truth that moments of surprise want to teach us: everything is gratuitous, everything is a gift. The degree to which we are awake to this truth is the measure of our gratefulness. And gratefulness is the measure of our aliveness.
As humans, we search for meaning and fulfilment. A problem arises when we begin to take life, and all it offers, for granted.
Every day holds moments of surprise and awe if we allow ourselves to be open to this.
When we watch the ocean lap onto the shore, or a rainbow appear, or the breeze slip through the trees. When we receive a smile from someone or an unexpected kindness. Only a grateful heart is open enough to appreciate these things.
And when we appreciate, we find fulfilment because suddenly everything is more than enough, and our lives take on a new meaning that ripples out to the people around us in the way we interact with them.
How might you use gratefulness as a path to meaning and fulfilment today?