THE COIN OF GRATITUDE

















“Gratitude is a duty which ought to be paid,
but, which none has a right to expect.”

Jean Jacques Rousseau

Gratitude is a two-sided coin. The front side – the main side - is the obvious one: I need to be grateful for every thing Life has given me – my family, wealth, health, friends, neigbours, country, freedom, clean air and water, everything. But, other side - the rear side - of the coin of gratitude is not a pleasant one… but, is needed to complete it, give full value to it. But, mostly, I fail to recognize the importance of this side… because it’s unpleasant and unpalatable.

So, what is this side – the rear side - of the coin of gratitude?

It’s how I behave when others behave ungratefully towards me… To the good that I do to them.

Normally, I become angry or hurt. So, I react or sulk… Don’t I? I, even, justify my reaction and sulking saying, “I have my right to feel angry and hurt… because, I am human.”

But, when I think about it, it becomes clearer to me, that to show my gratitude to others is very easy. But, when others don’t show gratitude to me, it’s not easy at all for me to handle. And, that’s where, the test of my character lies:
Can I feel the gratitude to even ingratitude?

Perhaps, it’s a higher form of feeling grateful to Life… Because of these people, I am able to shed off some of my self-importance and let go of my deep need to feel appreciated, applauded and validated. So, I think, the more I face this kind of attitude – of thanklessness – more refined I become… humbler and more spiritual.

I am sure, you can relate to what I am saying here.

Obviously, we think, that feeling grateful to people and situations in Life is what gratitude is all about. But, as I said at the outset, that’s not all. That’s only the front side of the coin. The rear side is how we behave when we do not receive gratitude… when people show thanklessness, by taking us for granted.

Suddenly, in the midst of a deep sense of anger and hurt, today, I found me reminding myself, that a coin has to have two different sides. If both the sides are alike, it is a bad coin… a dud one…

A Khota Sikka!




GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.: pixabay

Video: GuruGanesha Band

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi
Read more

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE... IT IS A CHOICE"

Image
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone… It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Lathe of Heaven T welve years ago, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married, the world began to hail the couple as ‘Brangelina’. It became a fashion for couples around us to call themselves so… Norbert and Teresa renamed them as ‘Noresa’…  Amol and Vishaka baptized their relationship as ‘Amoshka’… and, Salman and Nargis became ‘Salgis’! I and my wife, too, got tempted to re-christian our matrimonial relationship as ‘Germa’... That is, Gerald and Anima, to be precise! B efore I proceed any further, let me make it very clear, here… that, I have no business to judge on the break-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina’ Jolie’s marriage. I have no inclination to go into why, how, what when etc behind it… The couple ‘chose’ to split. And, it’s their choice… Only they know how good or bad… how joyful or painful that
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How does it matter
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...