Importance of Appreciation & Gratitude

What’s of value to you?

Recently I was drawn to this old Sufi tale:

Mula came upon a frowning man walking along the road to town. “What’s wrong?” he asked. The man held up a tattered bag and moaned, “All that I own in this wide world barely fills this miserable, wretched sack.” 

“Too bad,” said Mula, and with that, he snatched the bag and ran down the road. Having lost everything, the man burst into tears. Meanwhile, Mula quickly ran around the bend and placed the man’s sack in the middle of the road where he would have to come upon it.

When the man saw his bag sitting in the road before him, he laughed with joy and shouted, “My sack! I thought I’d lost you!” Watching through the bushes, Mula smiled. “Well, that’s one way to make someone happy!”

Often we can lose appreciation for what we have. It could be a relationship with another or even to your self. We can take things for granted, make comparisons, and get caught up in the distractions of life. It's only when we think we may have lost these things that we begin to appreciate their value.

How can you better appreciate what you have already?

Your life, Your relationships, Your health and wellbeing

What can you do to improve these connections?

In my BreathMedicine classes, I guide you to connect to positive emotions like appreciation and gratitude. Heartfelt appreciation is a muscle we not often spent much time building, or feel encouraged to build.