In my own personal research into ideas of spirituality, the universe and religion within the past year, a common theme that I have incorporated into my life is the idea of a law of gratitude. In my eyes, the law of gratitude is essentially appreciating all that you have, down to the bad, simply because the experience itself is a blessing and that acknowledgement of blessings will only turn your future into blessings as well. As a person with marginalized identities, like many of the people I hold closest to me, it is easy to be chewed up by the world and look upon it with that same angst. It is easy to internalize the hate, anger and pettiness you see all around you when you think it is normal. However, in understanding the law of gratitude you also understand your reality more, and you understand that the grief you perceive as normal is only because you make it your reality and the grief of other people is only because it is what their reality is.
In a world of seven billion people, where thousands of people are probably experiencing the same thing you are, it is absolutely mind-altering that each and every person is experiencing a different reality. We are not capable of changing what happens to us, but we are entirely capable of changing the way we respond and the way our reality perceives events. This is not to say that you are to blame for not responding better or more positively to when life beats you down, but I am saying that from that moment on you have a clear path of creating a reality in which you are thankful for the pain in order to grow into better days. Looking into these moments where there seems like there are no doors for you, no way out of your emotions, the law of gratitude is a saving grace. In those moments, it says to you that despite all, you still have life. Being thankful for the mere ability to breathe healthily, the simple luxury of having food and water, and without comparing yourself to others people’s journeys will lead you to understanding that you, yourself are abundant. You already are all that you need, and settling into that genuine appreciation of the conjunction between yourself and your body will attract abundance.
It is this law of gratitude, in which you appreciate with all of your being for all of the fortunes that you have, that omits a sense of positivity and peace from you that can only attract future blessings. Understanding your abundance will bring abundance because being able to appreciate all that you have when you do not have much, means that once you do you will feel infinitely more appreciative and abundant. It means that you have signaled to yourself that you are ready for more, that you are already sufficient and that you have already succeeded.
In times of personal tribulations, in which we truly all go through, the law of gratitude says this is a moment of growth. The law of gratitude removes the notions of “bad” experiences and “good” experiences, and simply dumbs it down to an experience with the potential for growth. Those days, weeks or months of intense anxiety and depression can never be explained as a “good” experience, but through it one can overcome heights they never thought possible. These lows, the law of gratitude says, are just trampolines into our highs for without them we would not be able to experience, acknowledge or ever appreciate what that euphoria even is. Having a genuine appreciation for the tribulations in our lives quiets the pain of it, and allows us to interpret it as growth. This consistent gratitude of growth, for simplicity and of your own existence will alter your reality to where there actually is always something you are genuinely thankful for; in which this cyclical positivity comes to you tenfold simply because you perceive it.
