Learning
to be Grateful for the Good Fortune of Others
Part 4
Rejoice
at the Blessings of Others
Gratitude: A lively
sense of future benefit. A French Definition
If you wish to change
your thinking, to rejoice at the blessings of others
rather than feeling slighted, you are practicing the
steps covered so far:
You recognize you participate in
cause and effect regarding your intentions and feelings
toward others.
You are "not looking at"
others, looking instead in three important directions:
your source of spiritual strength, within yourself,
and within arms' reach.
You are opening your eyes to your
own blessings, so many of them the little things we
are apt to overlook.
The third step is to see
the Universe as a place of plenty, to see and believe
that the good things that happen for others can also
happen for you. This requires honesty, faith, and "sending
out" good.
Honesty is required, and
honesty of the most difficult kind: honesty with yourself.
The Universe rewards positive feelings and intentions
with more of the same, but these are not a substitute
for action.
When you see the blessings
of others, never forget that action and preparedness
at some level was necessary on their part. Is it a great
job? What work did he or she do to prepare for it? What
doors did they knock on, what persistence paid off?
(Just because you didn't see it doesn't mean it didn't
happen.) Is it a fantastic relationship with a loved
one? What walls did they knock down, what barriers or
fears did they overcome?
Being honest with yourself
requires you to evaluate whether you are prepared to
receive similar blessings in your life. To catch a train,
you must first be standing beside the track.
Faith is the confidence
of things not seen. With faith, you know you will be
provided for. With faith, when you see others excel,
advance, gain, and love, you see the abundance they've
tapped into also surrounds you. If they are blessed,
and they are, then you also have access to the same
source of good things.
Faith allows you to look
at success and realize, if these steps have been followed
by successful individuals, then if I take these steps,
I will also be rewarded.
"Sending out Good"
is a return to the first part of this series. Call it
the Golden Rule, call it Karma, call it Cause and Effect,
whatever you like. It is so much part of the fabric
of the Universe it is recognized everywhere. You cannot
avoid it.
Resent the blessings of
others, and resentment haunts your life. Rejoice in
the blessings of others, and celebration lights your
life. Do what you can for others with a sense of joy,
and that joy will return to you.
Smile and congratulate
others, with the genuine confidence that you will be
blessed as a result. Remember the definition above:
Gratitude is a lively sense of future benefit.
