Leading Blog A Leadership Blog Personal Development Archives. Leading Blog Main Page. Unconditional Gratitude. WE ARE NOT AUTONOMOUS. Autonomy is simply looking at life as though we are a world unto ourselves. As though we did it all by ourselves. Its pride. But the reality is, we are connected. The opposite of autonomy is gratitude. Gratitude isnt dead, but it is in trouble. Society does not see gratitude as a moral or a character issue, which it certainly is. Although it is has been scientifically proven to be a key to happiness, it is something much more profound than that. Most of our problemsespecially relational issuescan be traced back to a lack of gratitude. In dealing with any of our problems, you will find that there is a lack of gratitude over something or someone. The Roman statesman Cicero wrote, Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others. Even Adam Smith, the economist that believed that the market should be driven by self interest, expressed in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, his belief that feelings of gratitude are crucial for maintaining a society that is based on goodwill. C Windows Forms Minimize Eventbrite Tickets' title='C Windows Forms Minimize Eventbrite Tickets' />This post is by Krissi Barr, CEO of Barr Corporate Success and coauthor of The Fido Factor, a leadership book on the lessons learned from dogs. Kilauea Mount Etna Mount Yasur Mount Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira Piton de la Fournaise Erta Ale. He considered gratitude to be a crucial source of social civility and stability. Like all character traits, gratitude is expressed in action. It is returning a favor, giving thanks, showing appreciation or simply giving someone your time and attention. Cicero said, There is no duty more indispensable than that of returning a kindness. Ingratitude has been called the essence of vileness and the most horrible and unnatural crime that a person is capable of committing. It is a moral issue that impacts our lives and thinking in significant ways. When we are full of pride, angry, frustrated, depressed, defensive, stressed, irritated or anxious, we would do well take a time out and uncover our ungratefulness. Gratitude is most often expressed by simply thanking others, but it is more than just giving thanks. It is a way of looking at life a way of seeing other people. It is more than a strategy or a technique to influence others. It is a way of being. We shouldnt think of gratitude as something that happens at certain moments throughout our life. Real gratitude doesnt appear at moments in our life, but it is a disposition we have towards life. Real gratitude is unconditional. Gratitude endures through everything. It is not a fleeting response to our circumstances. You may remember Blanch Duboiss classic statement in Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire, where she said that she always depended on the kindness of strangerspeople she didnt know and may never see again. It was not about individual episodes in her life, but rather it speaks to a perspective on life. C Windows Forms Minimize Eventbrite FeesIts not just gratefulness to a person but a gratefulness for your existence and how far youve come. Its being aware of your whole life. An awareness of how much we owe to others throughout our life. Gratitude creates perspective. Gratitude says, Im part of something bigger. I am not alone. It connects us with each other. C Windows Forms Minimize Eventbrite Chicago' title='C Windows Forms Minimize Eventbrite Chicago' />It strengthens our relationships while moderating our behavior. The autonomous person rejects gratitude precisely because they must recognize and submit to others in this way. They think, If I can find something wrong with that person I dont have to recognize their kindness. C Windows Forms Minimize Eventbrite Events' title='C Windows Forms Minimize Eventbrite Events' />I can invalidate them. The autonomous dont want to recognize others so that they can justify treating them any way they want. This kind of thinking is not based in reality. Eventually, it leads to self destruction. Gratefulness changes us. It strips away our indifference. It puts us in touch with reality because it acknowledges our connectionsour networked existence. It is this gratitude effectthe way it grounds us in realitythat benefits us and those around us the most. Gratitude moderates and even inhibits toxic emotions but more than that, it gives birth to positive emotions. Its why Cicero said that it was the parent of all of the other virtues. Gratitude gives birth to and nurtures patience, a sense of humor, curiosity, creativity, insight, kindness, respect, courage, generosity, empathy, and positivity to name a few. C Windows Forms Minimize Eventbrite LogoWe would like to show you a description here but the site wont allow us. Commissioner Sandy Murman invites you to her Opioid Summit. Hillsborough County addresses prescription opioid crisis. County Commissioners took the first step in. Admiring the time and effort you put into your site and detailed information you provide. Its good to come across a blog every once in a while that isnt the. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Serial Number Macbook. The Conference Program includes Invited Talks, Plenaries, and Mini Tutorials. Each of these sessions is designed to provide guidance from industry leaders, while. Linux, derived on GTK, SQLite, nearly integrated in C, changed to support considerable, valid, and exclusively multiple without unpacking your great download seamus. Gratitude creates the space for positive emotions to grow and flourish. Anger, irritation, defensiveness, worry, and impatience, are choices. These emotions dont happen to us we choose them. Have you ever been in the middle of an angry rant when the phone rings When you answer the call you are all sugar and spice and everything nice. When its over you go right back into your angry rant. Its a choice. The point is, we can choose gratitude to drive these toxic emotions out of our lives. Negative emotions cannot coexist with gratitude. Gratitude has the power to pull teams together. When things dont go our way, or when people dont do what we think they should, we tend to pull awaywithdraw. We want to take our ball and go homedisengage. If we can develop a mindset of gratitude, that will not happen. We will stay engaged. We will work together. Gratitude has the power to slow us down and reflect and refocus our attention on what matters. Sometimes we have to step back to see our life in perspective to be able to connect the dots. I like the way American writer Ursula Le Guin put it If you can see a thing wholeit seems that its always beautiful. Planets, lives. But close up a worlds all dirt and rocks. And day to day, lifes a hard job, you get tired, you lose the pattern. Its easy for any of us to lose the pattern, to lose the narrative, to forget what we are doing this all for if we never step back and see the bigger picture with gratitude. How do we get to the point where gratitude defines who we are Humility, of course, makes all of this work. Humility is the ability to silence the self. Humility is valuing other people appreciating them. Humility allows us to be open to recognizing the good in all of our circumstances. Gratitude is humility in action. Not surprisingly, the mechanism behind gratitude is remembering. Developing a mindset of gratitude is about remembering. We dont come by gratitude naturally. Its not common sense. Its something we have to cultivate. And remembering takes effort. Of course, we can find the differences we can find the negative. We can dwell on it. Its the core trait of a toxic individual. But we can combat that by seeking out anything that is excellent or praiseworthyseeking out the good in any situation. Drawing upon positive memories gives us hope for the future. Unconditional gratitude heals and creates understanding and builds relationships. Gratitude acknowledges that we are connected. Allow unconditional gratitude to define you as a leader. Like us on Facebook for additional leadership and personal development ideas. Posted by Michael Mc. Kinney at 0. 7 4. AM. Comments 0. Personal Development. What Are Good People WHAT DO WE MEAN when we say someone is goodGood is often confused with competency. But it is really a character issue. You can be good at your job but doing good is a character issue. Doing good is not just no being bad but intentionally creating more good in the workplace and especially in others. Anthony Tjan, author of Good People says, Pursuing goodness in yourself while surrounding yourself with good people is the only leadership decision that really, truly, matters. Tjan begins a discussion by trying to define good and to build a framework and language to talk about what good is.