It is a well known fact that the true value of anything is understood only when it is lost. Otherwise, we really take everything for granted. Just like a thirsty man knows the worth of every drop of water and on the other hand those who have ample supply of clean water often end up wasting a lot of it. We all know this, but that is not all. Just the scarcity or absence of something does not make us realize about its actual value, one also needs to have some sort of knowledge about it, which is often taken for granted. I clearly remember my early childhood days when I used to collect shiny pieces of glass fallen here and there on the road thinking that those are diamonds and adding them to my ‘treasure box’.

Anyone watching me do that, knowing that those are simply pieces of glass, would laugh at my stupidity or innocence, whatever you may call it, but somewhere on the planet the exact opposite may be happening. Someone throwing away a diamond assuming it to be a piece of broken glass. Thanks to the basic education, most of us can differentiate a diamond at least from fragments of broken glass.

Notice the word ‘thanks’ in the previous sentence. How often do we feel thankful about the fact that we are educated? Being honest, I didn’t feel thankful for this much. I was mostly surrounded by educated people and I felt Education is a very common and basic thing. Didn’t realize it till much later that there are people who still struggle for this ‘basic’ commodity. The day I realized this, I became grateful towards Education.

Gratitude, as per the Oxford Dictionary, is the feeling of being grateful or of wanting to give your thanks to somebody. Gratitude is something which makes us value the things that we have and the people because of whom we have them. If you think about just anything around you, you will realize that all of them have a story, a story of their origin, a story of their existence, a story of their life!

Let us take the example of a cotton soft-toy. It is of course made of cotton, so its story begins when the seed of a cotton plant was sown by some farmer in his land around the months of April-May. The seed grew into a plant and finally the plant got harvested around the year end and the cotton, after being separated, sent to mills for processing. Some of the cotton got drawn into yarns and dyed into various colors. The cotton and yarns ended up in some soft-toy manufacturing unit, where (let) a teddy-bear was made out of it. Packed and sent to wholesale markets, it was finally arranged in a stand in some retail outlet, where you or someone else chose to buy it for you. Now it belongs to you and lies somewhere around you.

This story of the Teddy-Bear, indeed seems very obvious, but when I thought about it, it really changed the way I looked at the soft-toy. What I once thought is just a dummy made up of a lump of cotton, became something of importance, something of value because it is an output of so many processes and hard-work!

Once you start looking at things with this perspective, you realize their worth and that earns them the respect that they deserve. We really should be grateful to all the people and other factors that play important role in the process which provides us with all the stuff, that is often taken for granted.

Alright! Just keep material things aside, we often tend to take even human beings for granted. We forget that every person is also a living being! They also have a story, a story of their life, a story which is known by none but few. We often underestimate the efforts that others put in anything. I feel that one should express gratitude towards everyone, cause a little appreciation can motivate them to keep doing their good work!

Why should you say thanks if you are paying for the service? Well, if brings a smile on someone else’s face, then why not? A small word, ‘thanks’ or ‘thank you’ can really make others feel worthy! Don’t think that this blog post is about teaching you to thank others, it is about making you realize that there always exist more than one perspectives in any argument. Although not every perspective can be 100% correct in any argument, but the point of view of every person should be respected. I came across this picture:

As I said earlier, everyone has their own life story, the incidents that happened in their life, the miracles, the decisions they took, everything that made them what they are today! Their thought process and the way they look towards life and problems is an output of all the circumstances of their life.

So let us create a more ‘understanding’ and ‘listening’ society! Let’s try to understand other’s perspective, instead of trying to prove them wrong. Let us listen to what others have to say, instead of just putting forth our opinions. I did not say that you should not share your opinions, but other’s point of view is something worth knowing! This will definitely give them the respect that they deserve and also make them feel worthy! Isn’t this one of the goals of gratitude?

Thanks!