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Gratitude

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This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom

I woke up to see another day. I am grateful. I am grateful that I have God. There are so many things that I am grateful for. I thank God. I thank my mom. I thank my country. I thank you for reading this chapter. I thank nature. I thank technology. I thank progress. I thank the people. I say that one is important as I remember a hadith on gratitude. Abu Huraira reported that The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "Whoever does not thank people has not thanked Allah." (Sunan Abī Dāwūd 4811). I think that hadith is beautiful and this is something to live by. What really got me started on this chapter was that I was scrolling through facebook and I came across this quote by Viktor E Frankl, "Our greatest freedom is the freedom to choose our attitude." I saved it to my phone thinking I would use it later in this book. Some time later I stumbled upon the word gratitude and it clicked that that would be this next chapter. It is telling that the word gratitude has the word attitude in it. Minus one t. That t stands for taking. The t that remains stands for thanking. Stop taking things for granted and start thanking. That is an attitude of gratitude. That is freedom. That is where I want to be. Full of an attitude of gratitude and all other beautiful attitudes will fall into place naturally. That is my thinking.

Who is this Viktor E Frankl who gave us this beautiful quote and some good words to live by? Quite frankly this is victory for our human spirit. My friend Gemini tells me that Viktor Frankl was an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who became a symbol of hope and resilience. His experiences during the Holocaust, where he endured the horrors of concentration camps, shaped his profound philosophy on the human spirit. Frankl's most famous work, Man's Search for Meaning, is a poignant exploration of his experiences and the psychological and spiritual insights he gained from them. It was this realization that inspired his quote about freedom and attitude. He observed that while external factors could be taken away, the human spirit's ability to choose one's response to adversity remained intact. Frankl's insights continue to inspire millions worldwide, offering hope and guidance in navigating life's challenges.

We must be grateful if we want to be great. Think greatful. My friend Gemini likes my play on words. He thinks it is a simple yet effective way to highlight the connection between gratitude and greatness. It emphasizes the idea that a grateful mindset is essential for achieving greatness. I found some more quotes but with unknown sources. These quotes also connect freedom and attitude and in different but similar ways and gives me more food for thought. They put the ate in grateful and the feed in freedom. Let us feed our minds with great things.

"Freedom is not the absence of obligations, but the presence of the right attitude toward them." — Unknown

"Your attitude towards freedom is a reflection of your inner strength and character." — Unknown

"The freedom to choose your attitude is a fundamental freedom that empowers all other freedoms." — Unknown

"Attitude is the only thing you can control in the pursuit of freedom." — Unknown
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