Gratitude is counting your blessings and then being thankful for the blessings. This inculcates the positivity in the mind and helps the person resume the self-confidence which he sometimes loses when he sees himself under-performed or comparing others outperforming him. Realising even the blessing of very little importance has the potential transforming the negative pattern of the mind to positive one. Once that pattern of inhibitions or negativity is broken, the silence power of the mind is switched on which kicks the feelings of positive force. Every time when you find yourself falling in the loop of thoughts having negative energy, just start writing your blessings and thankfulness to those responsible and the Almighty, this will develop the feelings of patience and strength to stand up against the circumstances and succeed. Now, every problem becomes as a positive challenge to beat. So, make writing blessings as habit. This mini habit but powerful habit if followed everyday will protect you from all kinds of attack of negative people or circumstances. Once this small habit is developed, there will be tremendous positive change in the life. We are well aware of compounding effect of returns on the money invested or saved in the banks. Similarly, the long term compounding effect of being grateful in your life not only keeps you happy but also healthy. 90% of the chronic diseases are psychosomatic – meaning that these diseases have their root causes in the mind. If your mind is peaceful and happy, your physiology will be improved. Like your sleep will be improved, if gratitude practice follows at the end of every day. This habit will tune your mind to look for positives in your life every day. Keeping your positive attitude generates a sense of contentment and getting rid of anxiety when you look into the past achievements. This habit will also solve anxiety. Contentment and thankfulness are the secrets of inner happiness.
In today's psychopathological environment and daily chores, these secrets are the need of the time. Yama and Niyama of Ashtanga Yoga as compiled by Sage Patanjali forms the package of mental hygiene, just like we follow physical hygiene to protect ourselves from bacterial, viral infections. Mental hygiene protects us from psychopathology like jealousy, fear, anxiety, etc.
Contentment or satisfaction is the jewel of life and this gives you the stability of the mind. Nobody can affect you at any point of time with these jewels. Our mind has tendency to wander here and around without any direction when it is devoid of inner satisfaction. To fill this emptiness, the human being craves for outside gratification - earning money more than enough, fame, etc. and falls in the comparison trap with others and here the corruption starts to grow. Wrong intentions or malafide intentions and wrong deeds and acts result from this craving to fulfill inner emptiness. Ironically, the more the man follows desires resulted from this emptiness, the more desires are cultivated with the fire of dissatisfaction and jealousy. Vicious circle starts this way which never ends but the life ends, with unfulfilled desires and carrying on the weight of those desires. Weight of incomplete desires is enough to cause burden on the intangible mind to destroy the physiology of the body with scattered energies. These scattered energies can be tuned only with the contentment and peaceful thoughts. Mere words are not enough, feelings are important to cultivate the contentment. Start living in the Present instead of future and practice desirelessness and contentment.
