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He looked at me, and with a big grin
on his face he said, "Your eyes, your mind, and your heart
were given to you for free and so was the air, the water, and the
sunlight. How could you not be grateful for all those
precious gifts? That's why the words thank you are
the most important ones in any language. When we say,
"Thank you," we are present to all our gifts and the
love that we share." Ozstar's refreshing perspective
reminded me of one of my favorite quotes, by Marcel Proust:
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new
landscapes, but in having new eyes."
When we are looking for what's right, we invite life to shower us
with all its many gifts. Looking for what's right opens our
hearts and allows us to live in a state of gratitude for what we
have. It lets us appreciate the little things that bless us
every day. It causes us to stop taking for granted the many
gifts in our lives. Just think of all the things we have to
be grateful for! The fact that you are reading this article
means that you have the ability to read, as well as the resources
to access the Internet. Your heart is pumping, your lungs
are breathing, and you have the priceless ability to see, feel,
taste, and smell. These are extraordinary gifts! The
state of gratitude lives within each of us, and when we stop and
ask this question, we gain immediate access to the level of
consciousness where love and gratitude reside. When we look
for what's right, we inspire our children, our friends, our
co-workers, and our communities.
Looking for what's right is an art that takes practice. But
here is the payoff: when we look for what's right, we feel
good, strong, and worthy. When we look for what's wrong, we
feel bad, resigned, and disappointed.
It's easy to look for what's wrong. For most of us, this is
our default way of viewing the world. We are experts at
describing in great detail what isn't right about our jobs, our
mothers, our relationships, our teachers, our children, our
bodies, our government, and our bank accounts. When we look
for what's wrong, we choose to view our lives through the
narrowest possible lens, zooming in on the places where our
expectations haven't been met, where others have failed to meet
our needs, where the world doesn't look the way we have decided it
should. When we're looking for what's wrong, our eyes focus
on the negative qualities of others, spotting their weaknesses and
their incompetencies.
In addition to immediately shifting our perspective and thus our
mood, what this question does is show us that maybe--just
maybe--what's wrong is not "over there" with
others. Maybe the problem lives not outside us but rather in
our own lenses, the ones through which we choose to view the
world. We can easily argue against this point and say that
our spouses are wrong, that our bosses are wrong,
and that the waitress who brought the wrong kind of salad dressing
is wrong, too. But what we can be assured of is that if we
look for what's wrong in any given situation, we will find
it. And then our experience will be one of disappointment
and discontent.
The moment we find something wrong, we automatically point our
fingers in blame at the other person or the situation. It's
so easy to find fault. Finding fault with others is the lazy
person's out. I've done it a million times myself.
I've pointed my finger at others instead of taking responsibility
for the reality I see. I have been guilty of blaming my
boss, my boyfriend, my coach, and even my mother for my
discontent. Making others wrong becomes an excuse we use to
justify our moods and bad behavior. By focusing on what's
wrong, we avoid taking responsibility. . . .
We must all ask ourselves what would happen if we changed the lens
through which we view the world. How would our lives alter
if we saw out co-workers as divine beings who are here to impart
essential wisdom to us? What would happen if we listened to
our neighbors as though they were the wisest people in the
world? Would they show up any differently than they do right
now? What would be possible if we approached our partners as
though their soul purpose was to bring us ecstasy and joy?
What would we hear? What would we see? What would be
possible? Looking for what's right is a life-enhancing
choice--a choice that promises peace, contentment, and
fulfillment.
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