Gratitude and Generosity
Gratitude and Generosity
Thought leaders are committed to share Indigenous wisdom to help and to heal humanity.
Each and every morning offers us a chance to start a new, fresh, and to begin again. Each morning when we wake - should we choose to listen - is a message from the Creator to remember the privilege we were given of waking up.
It’s a reminder to get up and prepare our self, to honor our self, to go out into the world, to connect with Mother Earth and the hearts of other beings, to inspire and encourage those who cross our paths, and most importantly, to enjoy life.
Gratitude is an internal characteristic and generosity is our external expression of our sense of gratitude. Basically, gratitude is how we feel, and generosity is how we express that feeling out in the world.
When we engage with the world from a place of gratitude, it’s the difference between trying to make something happen and allowing something to happen. The defining difference between effort and effortlessness is the virtue of gratitude.
Why is gratitude such a core concept of joy, contentment, and well-being in our life?
The ancestors tell us there are two primary reasons:
The first is that a person cannot exist in a place of fear and true gratitude at the same time.
The second is that gratitude is the doorway to divine intuition, which allows us to be guided by our connection with the Creator.
Gratitude moves stagnant energy when we’re feeling stuck in life. The simple act of practicing gratitude disrupts negative thoughts and changes our mindset to see the world in a positive way. Not only are we more attractive to others when we live in gratitude, but the most ordinary things can become extraordinary, creating a fuller, more beautiful expression of our life.
You’ve probably heard the old saying, “Things don’t happen to us, they happen for us.”
Gratitude is the foundation of that adage (saying, truth). It means that our mindset has to be that the universe is generally conspiring and working in our favor.
Frequently, when something that we perceive as “bad” happens to us, we let it affect us in a highly negative way.
But if we interact with the world from a place of gratitude, when something happens that others may perceive as “bad,” we just see that experience as “interesting.”
We are curious about why something happens the way it does, and in expressing that curiosity, we’re actively seeking the part of the experience that we’re grateful for.
Syeda Zainab (as) said, "I saw nothing but beauty."
The spot where Syeda Zainab (as) stood and watched the tragedies of Karbala unfold.
"What did Sayyeda Zainab (as) mean when she said she saw nothing but beauty on the plains of Karbala (maa ra’aytu illa jameela)?
She witnessed death, bloodshed, cruelty, beheadings, arrows, spears and swords. Where was the beauty in all this? There is great mysticism and irfaan in her statement, we need to reflect.
Allah (swt) says in the Holy Qur’an: “And of the people is he who sells himself (his soul), seeking means to the approval of Allah. And Allah is kind to His servants.” (Al-Baqarah: 207)
Elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an, Allah SWT says, “Indeed Allah has purchased from the faithful their lives and their wealth in exchange of Paradise for them; fighting in Allah's cause, slaying and being slain; a true promise incumbent upon His mercy …. who fulfills His promise better than Allah? Therefore, rejoice upon your deal that you have made with Him; and this is the great success.” (Tauba:111)
Syeda Zainab (as) was mentioning beauty of this transaction.
Imam ‘Ali (as) says, “If you sell your soul, sell it for a higher price than Jannah.”
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