Don’t Take Things for Granted, This World Doesn’t Owe You Anything!
Personal Development
I got a question from one of my students.
He asked – “I hate study. What can I do about it?”
Well, first of all you need to understand one thing. This question is not as simple as it appears. It has something deeper to it, something profound.
You are studying to become a skilled person and get your dream job. You know that you can become skilled only by studying and learning as much as you can, but you don’t want to do that, in fact you hate study. Have you ever wondered why?
The reason is you are taking things for granted – your parents, college, books, classroom, teachers, fellow students, most of the things. You think that you should get good friends, good teachers, awesome facilities in college, a wonderful girl friend or boy friend and everything else you desire. But the truth is – No! You are not supposed to get all that you desire. You are supposed to get what you deserve.
Don’t take things for granted. You might be getting all the things you desire but that doesn’t mean you were entitled for them. You got them. Good, great! Now, be grateful.
There are millions of children who don’t even get proper food. They don’t have a home to stay. They don’t have proper clothes to wear. They don’t know what a school looks like.
There are many orphans in the world. They have never seen faces of their parents. They don’t even know how their parents looked like. Think about them, feel their pain, their agony, their helplessness and realize how lucky you have been. You have so many blessings in your life.
There’s a reason why you think the way you think. You feel (like most of us) that this world owes you a good life. You are entitled to get a well paying job, a good home, a wonderful family atmosphere, a loving spouse and so on. You have been living in an illusion that since you are here, you MUST get everything you desire. It’s not true. This world doesn’t owe you ANYTHING.
Whatever you need or want has to be earned. You need to make yourself good enough to have that thing.
Don’t Get Disappointed
I have no intention to disappoint you.
I am not saying that you can’t have what you want.
I am saying that you must be the right person to have that thing, the deserving one. And it’s possible only if you feel grateful for what you have and keep on learning new things everyday to master your craft.
If you can’t value and feel grateful for what you currently have. What is the guarantee that you will value the thing you desire. Something that is not there yet.
Feel Grateful for What You Have
Here’s a simple exercise to help you feel good for your blessings.
Take a piece of paper. Sit in a place where you will not be disturbed. Get a pen and paper. Make yourself comfortable. Take some deep breaths and start unwinding.
Close your eyes and relax. Now, in your mind, start taking an inventory of your blessings.
Be it your college, your favorite course, good fellow students, fantastic teachers, wonderful facilities, family and friends or whatever it happens to be, feel its presence in your life.
Stay with that feeling. Now, open your eyes and note down all the things on paper. You may write like this – blessing no1, no2, no3……..and so on.
You might experience some unpleasant emotions doing this, may be anger, frustration, despair or uneasiness. Let them surface. Acknowledge them to help them get released.
You might not be able to do this exercise in the beginning because you have been conditioned to focus on what you don’t have. What you need to accomplish? What is it that is ‘missing’? You have never thought that there are things in your life that are valuable.
Get into the zone of grateful thinking. Find even the smallest things you can be grateful for and make a list. When the list is ready, have a good look it. See number 1 blessing in the list, close your eyes and feel grateful for it. Keep doing this till you reach at the end. Now see within yourself. You will feel awesome.
This exercise alone can change mindset. This can uplift your spirits and make you feel happy about yourself and the life.
But Wouldn’t Being Grateful Halt My Progress?
No, it won’t. Being grateful means you are acknowledging your blessings and it doesn’t mean that you will not strive to move ahead in life. You will still move ahead but with a deeper sense of purpose. Gratitude helps you get rooted. Now, you will have you roots deep in earth and your wings high in the sky.
Stay grateful and keep polishing your skills. A new life awaits you.
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