Start The New Year With Gratitude

With the year 2009 just having began, it is important to start the new year with gratitude.

When we are thankful for all the blessings and abundance, as well as help from those who have helped us in one way or another, we will naturally develop the wish to repay all for the infinite kindness that people have showered on us.

As we meditate on others' kindness with gratitude, there will arise a feeling of fulfilment in our hearts, leading to a lessening in the compulsive desires of our egos.

When we focus on what we have rather than what we lack, we will be filled with contentment, which in turn enhances our self-confidence and our ability to connect with others with a feeling of gratitude and openess. This invariable will cause feelings of loving-kindness and compassion for all sentient beings.

Cultivating gratitude may seem simple but it is not. With all the demands of life and the chaos that surrounds us, carrying a bubble of gratitude in all that we do is not easy.

One way to start is to cultivate gratitude for the kindness and love that our parents have shown us. It is because of their selfless love and caring that we are where we are today - a confident, learned adult with a good value system.

Holding the welfare of others and being mindful of our actions and its consequences when going around our day-to-day activities will bring happiness to oneself and others that we touch.

So, carry with you an air of gratitude this year. How you begin the year will influence the rest of the year.

Therefore, be grateful for all your blessings, little or big and give thanks for all that you have been blessed with.