“Gratitude lifts our eyes off the things we lack so we might see the blessings we possess." —Max Lucado
My parents practiced medicine in the academic setting and strove to maintain their values of hard work, ethics, and honesty. My preteen years coincided with a time when the physician profession was undergoing change. Physicians were still recognized to be part of that noble profession, but private practice and medicine as a business endeavor was becoming more popular in our home town.
The elaborate trips, cars, and scooters given to the parents of some of my school friends were very different compared to the humble gifts of freshly home-baked bread and cakes, home-grown vegetables, and knitted scarves that my parents sometimes received. These friends no longer walked or took the bus with me, but rode in chauffeur-driven cars and went to private schools.
Unsure of the reason for this discrepancy, I asked my parents one day in an almost undermining condescending way, “You must not be doing your job well and perhaps are not very good physicians. How come you don’t get the same gifts as my friends’ parents who are also physicians?”
My mother held my hand and said, “But of course, I do get the best gifts. When my patients look at me and say, ‘God bless you’ or ‘Thank you’ or when students that I taught years ago recognize me in spite of my gray hair now, that’s the best gift.”
That conversation has remained etched in me, and I remind myself often of the core purpose of my vocation. My purpose comes not from the materialistic gifts I receive but from the relationships developed with other human beings.
This photo of my office wall shows some of the gifts I’ve received which represent the relationships I’ve been blessed to develop. Some of these gifts I described in my book, Resilient Threads, and even more are inscribed on my heart where not even words can convey my gratitude.
“Gratitude lifts our eyes off the things we lack so we might see the blessings we possess." —Max Lucado
#REFLECT: What are some of the best intrinsic or intangible gifts you’ve received?
If you have time to read or know people who do, I humbly suggest my recent book, Resilient Threads: Weaving Joy and Meaning into Well-Being. If you have already read it, my publisher kindly asks me to suggest posting a review online at the bookseller’s website or on GoodReads, which helps other readers learn how the book may be of benefit.
In The News
Caring for health care workers: COVID-19 highlights need for mental health, self-care. May 10th, 2020 | by Wyatt Massey
I’m grateful to journalist Wyatt Massey of the Chattanooga Free Times Press for inviting me to share my thoughts.
How to prepare for the “new normal” while processing the experiences that health care professionals and people on #COVID19 frontline are facing? Health leaders can use the current moment to set a precedent. https://bit.ly/CFTmp5 Thanks @news4mass
Your post really strikes home and humbles me. I had recently read the same quote by Max Lucado, reminding me of the most important things in life: family, cherished friends, health...the true blessings in life.
It is normal human instinct to look at the glass as half empty rather than half full. There is always an instinctive hunger for the more than the contentment with the less. Nothing supports this statement better than the Persian proverb about the complaint for not having the shoe, and not appreciating that at least one has the foot, better than those who have none.
When wishes for more blind our vision, gratitude takes second place to greed.
Gratitude is an attitude and a habit, rather than a commodity that can be bought or exchanged. It comes from genuine knowledge and understanding, not from false assumptions and pretenses. The more one knows, humbler is one’s predisposition. The more are fruits on the tree, lowers are its branches. Gratitude comes naturally in the attitude of those who think positively and in the behavior of those who are contended with themselves.
Spirituality extends the scope of gratitude. In Indian version of spirituality, one can find positivity even in the negativity, one can be grateful for what one does not have also.
Some of the saints and Sufi poets in their extreme state of devotion express their gratitude to the Supreme Lord by saying something like this.
Thank you, God for NOT giving me the prosperity beyond my capacity, excessive profitability from my duties and responsibilities, physical comfort, and lusts in which I may lose myself. I do not seek even the salvation that will devoid me the opportunity to bask in your glory. I would prefer to be your humble and blessed devotee in the service of your lotus feet, in next and in all other lives.
‘Arth na dharm na kaam ruchi, padh na chahon nirvan;
Janm janm rati Ram pad, yahi vardanan aan’
[Bhajan by Goswami Tulsi Das, The composure of Indian scripture, Ramayana]
The best intrinsic and intangible gifts that we have received have been through the expression of gratitude. They have come from our patients who said, God bless you. [Dev bare Kara], and from our students who still keep us in their prayers even after five decades of our association with them.
Mukta is so right in her assessment of us, her parents. We are proud of her and are grateful to God for everything that we are blessed with.