Letters to Myself: Entry Fifty-One
Prompt: Do you think you might be a source of gratitude for someone else?
A reflection on the idea of gratitude; how others might feel grateful for my presence. How one can create that feeling by being the best possible version of yourself. Others take notice; be sure to continue that belief towards the greater good.
This is a tough question just because I find it difficult to speak on behalf of others. One of the things I have learned over the course of the last year, and truly the last six years, that gratitude goes a long way for someone. One of the things I do in my life is whenever I am around other humans, I push myself to be the best person I can be towards them; respectful, compassionate, offering grace that seems often all too rare nowadays to obtain from any interaction you come too. When you do this, you are showering those around you with good virtues; something Marcus Aurelius always preached. We are always showered in peoples good virtues, we must be selfless enough to give back as much as possible.
That we have the ability and awareness to say no to more; that greed can control us and we must remember that money is a dangerous tool and to respect that when you become a leader in your life. But what I really mean here is that one should be pushing themselves to go further when being that good person. When you are selfless, when you put others first, but are still able to take care of yourself is one of the truest forms of living this life. You live with no regrets, you live with gratitude always on your mind; appreciating the moments that are inevitably passing by you as each second ticks off our internal clocks.
Simply put it, and we talk about it a lot in my blog series, but death is always around us. We have to remember and humble ourselves to elevate us to be better humans; don’t let greed and pursuing the selfish ideals for that gratification; true gratification comes from serving those around us and being a servant to overall life and society we are living in. Contribute to those around you, show them some support; give up your time to volunteer, when you are working on your work to make sure you give the most effort you can give; we are not meant here to give half-ass effort. Even as we age, I will try to give my most desirable efforts to the work I will be working on.
Much like this series and my personal life, I am continuing that tradition; that hard work comes from the good virtues you perform for the higher powers and the people around you. We must always, even during the hard times, figure out how we can continue to perform those good deeds that those are needing. Being a servant for the people and helping those who are needing the help is one of the best callings one can run too; no one is going to tell you are doing something wrong if you are doing it for the greater good.
I have heard people say they are grateful for someone like me being around; I bring energy and compassion in every situation because you can! You absolutely can! If you are not doing that, you are bringing the wrong attitude, the wrong mannerisms, negative and toxic thoughts that will come back to haunt you. There is a reason gratitude is preached on those who seem to keep themselves out of the crosshairs of the gossip and persecution, they don’t indulge in that nature. As that nature will break your goodhearted spirit.
We must produce gratitude by doing those deeds; we all have the power to rip the tape off and turn on the lights for those around us. Do I believe someone is grateful for me being around? That they have a feeling of gratitude with my presence? I am not entirely sure, as I am not one to control someone’s feelings or thoughts, as all I know is mine and my own. What I will say, is that when I hear people speak positively to me, showing compliments or things on that nature, I do feel that there is a sense of gratitude there.
When I think about this concept I am not sure how other people feel; as I have grown to a point where I am honing in on the abilities of myself. Not saying I don’t care about others, in fact, I would say that I can feel others emotions through body language and expression through words, sentence structure, tone in voice. Mastering something like this is a detriment to my ability to focus on certain things, however, I believe it is a gift that I have to keep honing in on. As I had to help lead a few things for a project recently and one of the things I did for my team was being a constant levelheaded individual during a stressful time. When you do this for someone, gratitude comes out naturally from the virtuous efforts you give.
When you give, you receive. That is something to be proud of; that is something worth leaning into more because that leads to more opportunities and more ways to express that gratitude. Gratitude is contagious and we must lean into this; in turn, it makes you feel better as a person if you are striving for some kind of success in your life. If you are wanting to feel better about the depression you are experiencing, make sure to get out of your comfort zone. Instead, meet people where they are at; sometimes being the bigger person in every situation has to be the thing that comes out, the real question is are you going to be the one who leads it?
I do think people are grateful for having me around doing things for them or just being a friend and fellow human in our time in history. The more I learn about how to be a good citizen, how to be a good male role model, this education has been a journey of becoming and showing myself even the gratitude that others, atleast hopefully, perceive. Times are tough, but one of the few things we can do as humans is continuing to show up for others; show others how this life is not as bad as what your phones are telling you; money and everything is of course stressful, but this is where we exactly lean into the people around us. Collectively, we have a chance to rebound in time and we will, but gratitude must be the leading virtue. It gives us a chance to reflect but then perform for the greater good; and not turning selfish in moments of despair. Think of others always, they are counting on you and your grateful presence.
This post is part of my "Letters to Myself" series — a weekly free-write blog where I explore personal growth, curiosity, and healing through simple prompts. Sometimes reflective, sometimes fun, but always real. Thank you for being here.
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Photo by Kyle Gare
