Some of the most memorable lessons in life come from stories. We are meaning-seeking creatures. Stories teach, whether the storyteller intends them to or not. A Native American proverb says, “Tell me a fact and I’ll learn. Tell me a truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.”
As Thanksgiving approaches, I want to share the story of “The Black Dot” to illustrate ‘Gratitude’, being thankful for the things I took for granted. An attitude of gratitude. Giving thanks improves our life. Gratitude is the best antidote to a ‘sense of entitlement’—the poisonous attitude that ‘the world owes me!’ Thankfulness is the opposite—‘a grateful attitude for what I already have!’ Thinking that we deserve more than we currently have makes us miserable, but a grateful attitude fills us with joy.
One day, a professor entered his classroom and told his students to prepare for a surprise test. They all waited anxiously for the exam to begin. The professor gave out the exams with the text facing down. Once he handed them all out, he asked the students to turn over the papers.
To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions–just a black dot in the center of the paper. The professor, seeing the expression on everyone’s faces, told them: “I want you to write about what you see there.” The students were confused but got started on the inexplicable task.
At the end of the class, the professor took all the exams, and started reading each one of them out loud in front of all the students. All of them, with no exception, defined the black dot, trying to explain its position in the center of the sheet. After all the exams had been read, the classroom was silent.
The prof said, “I’m not going to grade this, I just want to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the white part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot. The same happens in our lives. We focus only on the black dot – health issues that bother us, lack of money, complicated relationship with a family member, or friend.
The dark spots are very small when compared to everything we have in our lives, but they are the ones that pollute our minds. Take your eyes away from the black dots in your lives. Enjoy each of your blessings, and each moment life gives you.” What a diƯerence having an attitude of gratitude makes in living a life filled with love! Quit telling God what you don’t have and start using what you do have.
It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see. There is awesome power in how you see the world. You are beautifully special and unique, that additive ingredient to the mixture of life and reality that creates magic. As Anais Nin tells us: “We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.”
Check your “gratitude gauge”! Once we start being thankful for the simple gifts in our lives and become excited about the road ahead we experience a completely diferent journey. Like most things in life, we seem to get back more of that which we give.
Abundance will flow into our life when gratitude flows out of our heart. When we are grateful for things, big and small, we always seem to find more things to be grateful about. Look for opportunities to serve and help others. We think helping others is about the big things but it’s really about doing the little things
with a kind, compassionate and grateful heart. Open the door for someone. Pay for a stranger’s meal.
Take nothing for granted. What if you woke up tomorrow with only those things for which you were grateful today? When we live this way we become a gratitude magnet and experience more joy, love, peace, and happiness. However you do it—make lists of your blessings, journal your gratitude, practice mindfulness, pray, find a trigger to pause and express thanks, write notes to colleagues and friends—just make sure to do it.
I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thank you for allowing me to share this Thanksgiving message with you. We don’t need more to be thankful for, we just need to be more thankful for what we have! I’m thankful for YOU.
Happy Thanksgiving, Ben
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