Day 20 – What Does Gratitude Feel Like To You?

Is it ungrateful to ask for what you want?

Wow, did I ever grab a loaded question and the answers aren’t what I expected… Google it and you get some lovely lady not-so-subtly selling her services to increase traffic to your business. This is followed by many definitions of “ingratitude”. Perhaps I’m being ungrateful for these answers, but they aren’t what I was hoping for. I want more. I got a little more in my search for “Ungrateful” & “ungratefulness”. Hmmmm… Wait a minute! I have a choice how to feel about this! I feel oddly good about it!

I found that I understand myself and my wants better. I want a greater understanding about gratitude and I got it in these answers. It is ungrateful to get results and answers we don’t expect, when we leave ourselves in a state of disappointment for not getting the quick and easy answer. My amazing wife often reminds me that I am too literal (sometimes). Since I started taking that as advice instead of criticism, I let go of my expectations (aka: stubborn prejudices) and seek understanding instead. I feel a great ramble coming on, so I’ll try to get to the point. I chose to understand from these answers that I am gaining a greater self-awareness. This feels much better than disappointment, of course!

Accepting results and choosing to learn from them is showing gratitude. Wanting to grow more & wanting to feel more of the happy feelings from growth… well, what I understand from the Laws of Attraction… this is a good thing. We attract more good to ourselves when we accept and feel grateful for what we get. Being in the universal flow never means staying put. Contentment isn’t a black and white sign of gratitude and wanting more isn’t always a sign of ingratitude. Get in the flow!!!

AND

SHARE YOUR DEFINITIONS, REALIZATIONS, REFLECTIONS, AND QUESTIONS ABOUT GRATITUDE.

Intention:

My intention is to build a better understanding of what gratitude feels like and I need your help!

I intend to repost this question every day for 21 days (because I believe it is the duration needed to form habits) and add your responses to the posts.

Introduction:

I really want to understand what gratitude feels like to my fellow humans and see the common aspects to the concept.

On April 27th, 2020, I started a search for the answers. What Does Gratitude Feel Like To You? – Day 1; I shared the first response on  Day 2; shared a little research on Day 3; I dug deeper on Day 4; let things flow a little more on Day 5; push the question on Day 6; reflect in a new way on Day 7; look at gratitude benefits on Day 8; express symtomology on Day 9: my Birthday happiness on Day 10; connecting Love to Gratitude on Day 11; pondered the benefits of feeling ungrateful on Day 12; gave thanks in a special way on Day 13: dreamed a little dream on Day 14; considered the power of a smile on Day 15; shared a well deserved thank you to a friend on Day 16; pealed away a layer on Day 17; found a silver linning in the cloud of overthinking on Day 18; & said a few long-overdue thank yous on Day 19

Expectations:

• a) We will share the positive feelings of gratitude with each other.
• b) We will see common threads that help us define what gratitude is to us. 
• c) We will focus on a positive concept and build understandings for better intentions.