MAINTAINING AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE RAISES OUR HAPPINESS INDEX

We are so indebted to nature and the people around us that any amount of ‘give-back’ won’t be sufficient . Therefore, the only way to feel good and live well is to have an attitude of gratitude. You may or may not be able to pay back, but an expression of being grateful is within the power of each one of us.

By doing so, not only the person you are grateful to, even you get a sense of immense satisfaction and elation. That means you are doing unknowingly a ‘favour’ to yourself by being grateful to those who do you good.

English philosopher GK Chesterton says this in his own inimitable way: “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”

That means one who knows the art of saying ‘thank you’ has known the art of staying happy. And, one who fails to do so misses one of the good things of life . That is why American inspirational author William Arthur Ward has this to say: “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”

Such great thoughts make us feel that we, in our own interest, should never be careless enough to take things for granted. What is due to you may be because of your own hard work and merit, but external factors too do a lot of ‘favours’.

Inner Voice comprises contributions from our readers. The views expressed are personal Innervoice@hindustantimes.com n