Grateful
Kindness and gratitude are free. However, even though they are simple actions, they do not happen easily. Our societies became more and more guided by competition, comparison, and fear. Our happiness is measured by the amount of “success” we have in life. Dealing with failure is a burn, facing our mistakes is taboo, talking about our vulnerabilities is interpreted as a sign of weakness.
In this scenario, there is no space for those who do not fit well with it, for those who are unable to express themselves differently, for those who we blame for their misfortune, for those who have a different light. The steps necessary to find ourselves when we seem lost require support, honesty, dialogue, and time. When we resist changes, we suffer. We have the ability to change, the ability to change together. We have the ability to be more when we take the time to look, to listen to others with compassion, to give a hand with love. When we respect different ways of being, when we learn how to be together. Only then can we shine as a healthy society, as kind human beings.
More and more around the world, many societies are designed to run in high-speed mode. However, life itself goes on in a slower pace. Learning how to deal with this “broken” compass is one of the main gaps faced by many countries. Finding our true north is seen as a waste of time. In that process, creativity, confidence, trust are throw away. There is no magical recipe for life or perfect answer for our doubts. That is why everything we do is connected. Like a puzzle. We need to work together to improve the status quo, build a better society, a new way of being despite and because of everything.
Being grateful is free; it does not requires a lot of time, nor lots of money. Being grateful for who we are, for what we have, for where our journey takes us, is one of main lessons in social and emotional learning. As learners, we pause, we breathe, we face our problems, we come back to move forward. Each of us is an important player in this game. Even though life goes on in slow mode, time never returns. This is another pillar in our lessons. Enjoy the present as a gift, learn how to be kind to ourselves and others, and then we can manage the emotional rollercoaster that life offers us. Together we can share our true selves and show society what we are all born for!
“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”
-Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture.