How the Tide could teach Gratitude a lesson.

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“GRATITUDE” • 8″ x 8″ oil painting
©2016 Marie Scott Studios

The tide flows in. The tide flows out.

Every day, submitting to the moon’s pull. Pouring itself forward into the nearest adjacent, vacant space.

Floating along. Listening to Gravity. Obeying the earth’s rotation.

The tide is a relaxed passenger, riding on centrifugal force. Peacefully lost in thought as it travels along its silky journey.

In blind obedience forging pathways to and from the ocean by its steady, daily acts of reliable compliance.

If only Gratitude were so regulated. So trusting.

Unlike the waters, which listen and then flow where they are told — feelings have a mind of their own.

Unlike the tides, which cause the waters to operate on autopilot — gratitude is not a mandate.

Gratitude is not instinctual. Gratitude is not inherent. Gratitude is not a right.

Then what is Gratitude?
A choice. A state of mind. A reaction. An action. 

For feelings of thankfulness to arise, the tendons of gratitude need to be stretched.

Gratitude is a muscle.

It needs to be trained, strengthened and practiced.

There is no blank check of circumstances which generates automated gratitude. No powdered drink mix that guarantees gratitude to grow.

Like it or not, there are no external forces which bring automatic gratitude.

Rather, it is the way one chooses to look at life that shapes the perspective of the mind.

Oh, that gratitude were as dependable as the tides! Can you even imagine what a different place this world would be?

“Tides are one of the most reliable phenomena in the world. As the sun rises in the east and the stars come out at night, we are confident that the ocean waters will regularly rise and fall along our shores.”

“What Are Tides?” Http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce, 6 Feb. 2015. Web. 29 Sept. 2016. <http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/tides.html>.

Gratitude does not happen on its own.

What would it look like to “swim against the tide” of your own mind? This is definitely something worth contemplating in the coming months.

For more thoughts on how to get to “The state of being Grateful” (as Merriam-Webster defines the word Gratitude, visit www.remembergoodness.com in the upcoming weeks, for ideas to train your mind .

If you could use a visual 31-day reminder that gratitude is an active choice, click here to access a free desktop calendar called (you guessed it) “Gratitude.”

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For more reading on the Tides, Salt Marshes, and Gratitude, visit the following articles.

 

 

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