Think for a second:
What people do you know who are basically grateful, even if things don’t work out that way? And be stressed at the same time? I don’t know anybody!
How many people do you know who criticize everything, who are never satisfied, who are always dissatisfied? And who are stressed at the same time? I know a lot of them!
There is a direct connection between gratitude and stress!
People who are grateful, I experience calmly, well-balanced, cheerfully, pleasantly. These are people I like to spend time with. I like to date them for a pizza.
On the other hand, I avoid the kind of people who are never satisfied with everything. They never like the food wherever something’s missing. I’d rather eat my pizza alone. I don’t need those guys after a hard day.
A few years ago I was on a skiing holiday in Switzerland with my family. My boys, 18 and 16 years old, went on demanding slopes with their snowboards. I, on the other hand, with my 12-year-old daughter on a red track … we thought.
The day before this track was still red, so it was moderately difficult. On this day she was deep black, which we could not foresee at the entrance. However, we had already driven too far into the slope to turn back. Skiers know what I’m talking about.
On this day half of the slope was closed for an international ski race. From a distance we could hear the announcements of the starting numbers.
The piste left over for skiing resembled a tiny narrow corridor. And this was transformed by the number of skiers after shortest time into a steep ice plate. My daughter, who is comfortable on snowy blue slopes, panicked. Running up didn’t work, driving down didn’t work either. What could we do? I needed a distraction to get her out of panic mode.
We managed to save us from the barrier of the race track.
We could take a breath and look down at the valley station. The almost unattainable goal. It was at this moment that the first racers arrived. Awesome! This speed, this control, this passion. Then two runners came directly behind each other, the one in front called commands, the one behind moved them.
That’s funny.
Only now did we realize that the back skier was blind. Unbelievable!
The national coach of the French Paralympics stood 2 meters away from us. I got to talk to him for a few minutes. He explained to me why he devoted all his strength to these people.
He said: “I used to train national teams, top athletes without any apparent restrictions, but these people showed me the way to happiness.” What’s their secret, I wanted to know immediately.
“Gratitude, it is gratitude, these people are happy. They are successful and not stressed, they live from the power of gratitude. Although they have to live with these limitations like blindness, amputation of limbs etc., they are grateful. Grateful to be able to stand on this piste in spite of it.”
The piste was still icy, but this lesson gave us the strength to arrive healthy at the bottom station without stress! Never before have we sat so gratefully in a mountain railway.
