Gratitude in the Predictably Unpredictable World

When we think everything is under control, and things will happen as expected and safe, something unexpected always happens. That is part of life. Life is an adventure full of surprises. Some are pleasant wonders, some are shell shockers. It is impossible to have everything predictable or figured out.

The unknown may feel scary. The uncharted territory is foreign. Knowing that there will always be an unexpected twist at some point makes our lives more predictable. The first step is to acknowledge that this adventure is full of twists, turns, squiggly lines, hills and valleys. Things do not always happen the way we want them to. There may be torrential rain in the middle of a cloudless sunny sky, or a rainbow after a thunderstorm.

When things don’t go our way, what do you do? Do you argue with reality? Do you question the actual circumstance? Do you desperately try to create an alternative outcome?

A common reaction is to think, that incident should not have happened. Is it true? Who makes that standard to gauge what should happen and not happen? Certainly not a human being. It happened and there is no turning back. Take a step to acknowledge this outcome.

If this is not the result, what do you think should have happened instead? Is there something that can be improved in the future (if there is a next time)?

Instead of fixating our mind on what should have happened, why not focus on what we are supposed to learn from it? Explore with an open heart. Be thankful for everything, whether you like it or not. I believe gratitude is a choice. I can choose to have gratitude in all circumstances, even in situations I don’t like. You never know how that thing you despise but are thankful for may become, in the future, the best thing that happened to you.

The initial reaction may be something like, how can I have gratitude for something I don’t agree with, or even hate? This is a learning process, and I do not expect us to master it in hours. The more we practice gratitude in difficult situations, the easier we feel thankful for things in general. You may look back one day and realize why you were thankful.

Explore how gratitude feels in your body. As feelings or emotions are vibrations in our body, it is important to know and predict how it is expressed inside our body. What part of your body is experiencing the gratitude? What temperature is it – hot, warm or cold? What color is associated with it? What kind of energy is flowing through? The more we give thanks, the more we can find things to be thankful for.

Life is about living, about the present. The more capacity we have to feel our emotions, the more we are in the moment. Gratitude comes from loving ourselves, loving who we are. In this predictably unpredictable world, the desired thing may become the worst thing in life, and the alternate reality may become the best thing in life. I choose to practice gratitude all the time.