The Sunday Mail
Milton Kamwendo
What you have is more than what you do not have. Appreciate all that you have and count your blessings, while discounting your miseries. What you can do is more than what you cannot do. Be grateful for your potential and build your capacity. What you can become is more than what you can dream. Dream big, count your blessings and use the spaces you stand in.
The supreme key to greatness is not pushing people, complaining that you have not had your fair share, banging doors, babbling negativity or knocking people’s heads. Your energy is too precious to be wasted in fruitless activities and doing what does not need to be done. With gratitude you will move further faster than you would with bitterness and bemoaning your fate. Use gratitude as an elevation lever. The power that will lift you up is the ability to live in the “Thank you!” Zone. Refuse to be susceptible to the negative conditioning of other people. Say more thank you words and you will feel differently and have more energy. Count your blessings and you will start seeing more strategy pathways that you thought possible. With gratitude you feel better, do more and see more.
What about the testing environment? Exercise gratitude. In her quip entitled: “Thank you for the gift of this difficult time,” Lios McMaster Bujold says: “Tests are a gift. And great tests are a great gift. To fail the test is a misfortune. But to refuse the test is to refuse the gift, and something worse, more irrevocable, than misfortune.” Look at your challenges with the lens of gratitude. Nothing comes your way to kill you. Every occurrence is pregnant with blessings and possibilities. Say, “thank you!” and door doors open.
Gratitude is giving
Gratitude is an attitude of heartfelt giving. You can never give and become sully, unless your motives are wrong. You cannot give and become smaller, unless your thinking is disempowering you. When you open the positive arteries of your heart, new energy wells up into the chambers of your soul and you get new strength. Gratitude strengthens you. When you are grateful fear disappears and abundant possibilities emerge. The more you are grateful, the more you are open to receive more.
Francis Maitland Balfour was inspired and animated by a spirit of gratitude when he wrote: “The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to your friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity.” Being blessed in a noble goal, but being a blessings should be the ultimate goal. In between being blessed and becoming a blessing strengthen your gratitude muscles.
Be grateful to all people that come around your life — whatever the reason and however long the season.
Your life is richer because of them. Be grateful. Thank God for your enemies, they help you lift your game and become better and more vigilant. Nothing focuses the mind better than the presence of an enemy. Be grateful for your critics, they expose your blind spots. When you are in the picture frame you are not able to see your own picture. It is the critics that improve you and help you to be accountable. Be grateful for those who oppose you, they help you see that there is another way and your own way is not a highway.
Opposition helps clarify arguments and refine business cases. Be grateful for those who love you, they brighten your world and make you feel more assured.
Be grateful for those who support you, they fill your wings with the wind you need to soar to greater heights. Be grateful for the opportunities that you get, they are special moments of grace. Be grateful for your problems, because they inspire you to be creative and innovative. Be grateful for your job, it gives you the opportunity to serve and make a difference.
Say thank you at least 100 times every day. You have a lot to be grateful about. Be grateful and you will dwarf your miseries. Where ever you are could your blessings. Make a note of something to be grateful for. There is blessings all around you. Keep watching out for opportunities to be grateful and to express gratitude.
Profile the good that people do not the mistakes they do. Life is richer and better because of the people around you. Thank God for each of them. The world would be dull without them.
Thank You Note
I wrote my first article for the Sunday mail in September 2003. It all started as a simple journey.
I felt I wanted to share a message of hope and inspiration with others. I was so grateful for the feedback that I was getting from those who were reading my book, “It’s Time to Unleash Your Greatness.”
I approached the Sunday Mail editor, then. He asked me to write and send in my article and photo. The rest is a story of gratitude. It has been a long journey since.
Some people started reading my articles when they were teenagers. Many people have shared testimonies of how the articles inspired, challenged and encouraged them over the years. People shared how they carry the clippings of the articles in their wallets.
I write from the heart and I am grateful for every opportunity that I get to write. Sometime I write some of the articles going through my own battles. It is these battles that teach me a lot and clarify my own thoughts.
Some readers have found encouragement and felt that the articles speak directly to them. Others have been encouraged to go on to write their own articles and books.
The stories and feedback is awesome. Today allow me this special opportunity to say a loud: “Thank you!” For reading and following this article. What would a writer be without a reader and the community of support that ensures that the stories are published? Thank you, thank you!
Wakeup to gratitude
Wake up at dawn and look for the rising sun. Wake up with a winged heart and give thanks for another special day that you have seen. Someone did not see this day. You got today a present of 86,400 seconds, make sure that you use at least one of those to say, Thank you!
Wake up with a determinate that with every breathe that you take today you will be grateful.
Everything that comes into your hands is a special gift. Unwrap it with gratitude. Every person that you meet is a special gift sent to bless you, teach you, challenge you or grow you in some way. Vow to be fully awake today, always watching out for an opportunity to say thank you.
The simple things that you have in your life came through profound journeys. Be grateful and see the processes and networks and value chain behind simple blessings. Be grateful even for the people that may look insignificant. Everyone is special and they matter. Respect people for who they are and not what they have.
Serve always with gratitude. Do not wait for you to be in extreme conditions to count your blessings and see what blessings people are and have been to you.
Today gratitude
Today with every step that you take be grateful. Let every step you take be a step filled with intentional gratitude. Let every place into which you step feel your grateful presence.
Bless with gratitude every space that you enter. See with eyes of love into the heart of everyone that you meet. Where you can, ease someone’s burden. When you can, make something easier for someone. Where you can, be a blessing in some way. Touch the people that you meet with a smile of peace and gratitude.
Always remember there are important words and there are less important ones. Words filled with gratitude are the most weighty and notable of all.
To exercise gratitude effectively, ensure that you master the hierarchy of words. This will lubricate your relationships, enhance your business and increase your influence. I do not know who wrote the following hierarchy of words, but I find this to be so important that I had to share it with you:
“The six most important words — “I admit I made a mistake.”
The five most important words — “You did a good job.”
The four most important words — “What is your opinion?”
The three most important words — “If you please…”
The two most important words — “Thank you!”
The one most important words — “We.”
The least important word — “I.””
Gratitude is medicine take it often. It is a tonic for your health. Gratitude is a vaccine against cynicism and negativity. It is an antitoxin again gloominess and it is an antiseptic against the root of bitterness. Be grateful and you will become great.
Committed to your greatness.
Milton Kamwendo
© 2019, Milton Kamwendo
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Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author, and executive coach. He is a cutting strategy, team-building and organisation development facilitator and consultant. His life purpose is to inspire and promote greatness. He can be reached at: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> and Twitter: @MiltonKamwendo or WhatsApp at: 0772422634. His website is: www.miltonkamwendo.com <http://www.miltonkamwendo.com>.
