“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have” Socrates. What a powerful quote. Think about it for just a moment, how many times do you go through your day and truly do not give a thought to all the little things in your life. Until now I felt that being thankful for small things in life was enough. I would think “people in my life know I love them and that I thankful for everything they are to me”, but do they really? It is my new understanding, through this course, that being thankful and being grateful are not always the same thing. Let me explain, you can be thankful that you have food on the table or heat in your home, but being grateful is more of an action required feeling. Sure you
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Happiness does not equal gratefulness, it is gratefulness that makes us happy! It was encouraging to ponder the idea that it is again not things in our lives but the moments that are the gifts. Every moment is an opportunity to do something to be happy. We are not grateful for everything that comes into our lives, but for every given moment. These moments are the gifts throughout our day. After listening to Brother David, I felt even more empowered, and can see how this idea of gratefulness could change the world. “If you are grateful, you're not fearful. If you are not fearful, you're not violent” (Bro. David, 2013). Sure this would be wonderful on a world view, but we can take the opportunity to put it into practice in our own homes. Grateful people are happy …show more content…
He asked his class to write letters to different individuals in their lives. After reading through the idea of sharing your love, appreciation, and gratitude with someone who has had a last affect on you, I could think of many people. The first person I thought of what my second grade teacher, Mr. Heally. When I was in second grade my mother had just married my stepfather and I was struggling some with this new change within our family. I was acting out a bit in class and really being mean to others around me. I can still remember we were watching a movie one afternoon, and I was being nasty in some way. I was called up to his desk, and he got about three inches from my face and said in a very stern voice, “Do you want to be remembered as being a brat or do you want to make a difference in your life?” I remember standing there not knowing what to say, other than well this isn’t fun! Then he continued to explain that I needed to make better choices and think about how my actions area making me look and my friends feel. If I could, as he is past away now, I would tell him I am grateful for his tough love. While at the time it didn't change my heart too much, but now looking back, I can see how I took his words and learned to think more about others and how I was being perceived. Made me think about what kind of person I wanted to be remembered
Happiness does not equal gratefulness, it is gratefulness that makes us happy! It was encouraging to ponder the idea that it is again not things in our lives but the moments that are the gifts. Every moment is an opportunity to do something to be happy. We are not grateful for everything that comes into our lives, but for every given moment. These moments are the gifts throughout our day. After listening to Brother David, I felt even more empowered, and can see how this idea of gratefulness could change the world. “If you are grateful, you're not fearful. If you are not fearful, you're not violent” (Bro. David, 2013). Sure this would be wonderful on a world view, but we can take the opportunity to put it into practice in our own homes. Grateful people are happy …show more content…
He asked his class to write letters to different individuals in their lives. After reading through the idea of sharing your love, appreciation, and gratitude with someone who has had a last affect on you, I could think of many people. The first person I thought of what my second grade teacher, Mr. Heally. When I was in second grade my mother had just married my stepfather and I was struggling some with this new change within our family. I was acting out a bit in class and really being mean to others around me. I can still remember we were watching a movie one afternoon, and I was being nasty in some way. I was called up to his desk, and he got about three inches from my face and said in a very stern voice, “Do you want to be remembered as being a brat or do you want to make a difference in your life?” I remember standing there not knowing what to say, other than well this isn’t fun! Then he continued to explain that I needed to make better choices and think about how my actions area making me look and my friends feel. If I could, as he is past away now, I would tell him I am grateful for his tough love. While at the time it didn't change my heart too much, but now looking back, I can see how I took his words and learned to think more about others and how I was being perceived. Made me think about what kind of person I wanted to be remembered