Gratitude

I was reading a book by 37 very successful men and women sharing secrets of their success. They were asked to discuss the one thing that contributed most to their success and in the first chapter, this guy said it was GRATITUDE for people around him.

Alot of times, we do not show gratitude and take people for granted. This is especially so for the people closest to us and I must say that I, too, am guilty of it in the past. Until the time I went through the worst period of my life, I had no idea that I was taking my parents for granted.

It was after that that I realised that no matter what happened to you, the only people who will stand by you and love you and forgive you with no conditions will be the people you call FAMILY.

When I actually gave birth to Ace, I once again verified this to be true because whenever I needed help with Ace, needed time to rest, my family (that includes both my parents, max's parents, my sis, my grandmothers) will always be there for me. Somehow once you are a parent, you realise that your parents always have your well being at heart no matter how it came across to you as being interfering at that time...

And because of this.. we tell our family too little how much we value and love them...

Maybe it is a coincidence... I was watching TV this afternoon and came across this movie that talks exactly about that!

In the movie, there are many different sets of pple who work together who are entangled in diff relationships. There is a policeman who has a daughter... she loves him alot but he always has no time for her. He is perpetually busy with work, with finding girlfriends... he is so bz he only makes cup noodles for her. When she tried to ask him about sch wk, he says she has to learn to think for herself. When she tries to show him her drawing, he rushes off to work. In the end, she won a prize at the art competition and in her eagerness to show him her drawing, she ran across the road and was killed by a on coming car. He never had a chance to show that he cared...

Another one is about a man who has been with his girlfren for many years. She has sacrificed many things.. her life, her youth, her career and even her aspirations to be beside him to take care of him. However, when she got pregnant and tried to tell him by pretending that another fren of hers did, he laughed at the fren and said she was stupid and it was probably a ruse to get the bf to marry her... and then when she decided to leave, she was worried he would have no one to take care of him and kept reminding him about where the things are kept.. while all he cared about was whether he could get a good sleep... in the end, she couldnt take it anymore and left him...

So you see... if there are people in your life you would like to thank, do so immediately.. do so now...

In the book, he says that all you need is to follow the rule of ESPN...

E- Stands for EFFORT and ENERGY. Thank people for the effort and energy they put in and not results. Cos we cant control the results but can control the amount of effort and energy put in.

S- stands for SURPRISE. Surprise people. Thank them and reward them, show your gratitude at times they least expect it and not only during xmas and birthdays; )

P- Stands for PRESENT. Being present for people when they need you most is the best way to thank them. By being presnt, we let peopel know at a heart level how important they truly are.

N- stands for now cos like the Zoe Tay cop show shown a few years earlier says,
"The past is history; The future is myster..
The gift is now..that is why we call it the PRESENT!"