The attitude of gratitude

The attitude of gratitude

December 2010

By Megha Bajaj

What a 10-year-old cancer survivor taught the author about being thankful Megha Bajaj is above anything else, a seeker. Thesedays she is trying to find herself through her onlinewriting courses for adults and adolescents.You can email her at:megh83@hotmail.com The children’s class was in full swing. I had asked the ten-year-olds to write about one attitude that they would want to have for life. There were four of them and each represented a world in itself. Shruti, the pretty one, came from an affluent family. Raghav was the intelligent boy wearing spectacles and a serious look. Garima was the cute, chubby girl who loved to giggle. And then, there was Dhruv. He had half a smile on his lips as he wrote. I couldn’t define him. Dhruv just was.Which is why it didn’t surprise me when he read out his paper and said, “Ma’am, I would like to develop the attitude of gratitude. Now and forever.” I asked him why. And he looked into my eyes and shared, “Because I am alive.” He added softly, “Ma’am when I was five I had leukemia. I am now 10. And I am alive.” I couldn’t utter a word. The other kids surrounded him and began to ask him questions, but I couldn’t join in. I could just hear a few words like ‘two years treatment’, ‘blood transfusion’, ‘18 injections’. The other kids gasped every now and then. Dhruv had unknowingly become a hero – but he didn’t seem to care. He just gave honest answers and shrugged his shoulders when Shruti asked him, “Can you get it again?”When all of them left, I sat with the little paper in my hand in which Dhruv had written, “I would like to develop the attitude of gratitude. Now and forever.” His childish handwriting seemed to contrast with the profound message that it contained. Conceptually, I liked the term gratitude. However, practically, I had two issues with it: One, I childishly believed if I was grateful, God would stop giving me more. And two, I believed that while some aspects of my life were great, there were always enough areas which were challenging and they took most of my time. So, how could I be grateful? Dhruv had shown me. The very law of life suggests that life goes wherever energies go. So the more grateful I am about something, chances are the more of it I would create in my life. Closer observation proved this to be true. Off late, I have been feeling really good about my health and often spontaneously the words flow, “Thank you, God for this feeling of absolute lightness and well-being.” And I am feeling better and better with each passing day. Consequently, for all those issues which I kept grumbling about – they indeed seemed to be growing in magnitude. I wasn’t enjoying my relationships too much and often felt as if I was giving much more than I was getting. Dhruv’s words shook me and I began to focus on every little thing that my close ones were doing for me and the perspective shift led to phenomenal results. Suddenly, I felt loved, cared for and protected. Magically, the more I relished the tiny gestures and expressions of love from others, the more they came my way!Gratitude seems a bit too simple to be life-transforming. And yet, it is. Thank you Dhruv, for changing my prayers.