“How you’ve been GRINCHED”. Part 6. Grateful and Respectful.
Dear reader, this article is Part 6 in a series of 10 articles titled: “How you’ve been GRINCHED and you didn’t even know it”. You can read the previous articles here: Read “Grinched” Part 1, Read “Grinched” Part 2, Read “Grinched” Part 3, Read “Grinched” Part 4, Read “Grinched” Part 5.
As Part 5 concluded, let’s build a Grinch that will no longer be grumpy, resentful, irritated, numb, cynical and heartless. Let’s turn the Grinch into someone who appreciates life, enjoys company of other people, shares himself freely, expresses emotions powerfully and intentionally, achieves goals in life easily and inspires others to do the same. Welcome to the new GRINCH: Grateful, Respectful, Inspired, Noble, Compassionate, and Humble.
Let’s take a closer look at the first and second components of the new GRINCH (Grateful, Respectful) personality.
G – Grateful [definition]: feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness; being thankful.
Being grateful to the people around you for their contributions to your life is one of the best things you can do. Think about how much we take for granted? Everything material and non-material you have in your life came from somewhere and someone else: initially from your parents and family in general. You didn’t buy it, you just received it as a gift and that’s something to be very grateful for. Your education, your upbringing, the food you ate, the clothes you wore, the room you lived in, the bike you rode, the computer and phone you were given, the money to spend, the list goes on and on and on. Have you ever really looked back and sincerely thanked the people who gave you all that??? If you have, that’s great. Do it again and again and again and keep on doing it. You can’t be grateful enough, it’s not something that you can overdo. If you can walk, talk, have food to eat eat, roof over your head, some money in your pocket, you already have more than many could only dream of!
If you haven’t been expressing your gratitude, it’s about time you do. Because it could make the difference in the lives of people around you and in return your own. When people around you start receiving your gratitude, it becomes contagious. It touches even the hardest and coldest souls. It opens people up and they express the same back to you. I urge you to go back and find something to thank each member of your family for, something you’ve never thanked them for before and observe their reactions. Thank them without expecting anything back, just share yourself freely and see what happens next. Keep doing it with other people in your life, practice it frequently until it becomes a habit. By being grateful and expressing gratitude you’ll never be alone, because it will attract the same back to you, just like a magic force or a magnet. Think about it, a simple “thank you” is what I’m talking about it here. One important caveat: it has to be authentic and genuine, otherwise it’s just empty, meaningless words. Don’t just say things to say things, be intentional! Through gratitude you can reach your core values and beliefs, and from there life gets so much more powerful. Practice it daily and watch your environment and people around you transform. Before you know it, you’ll be a much more complete and happy individual.
R – Respectful [definition]: feeling or showing deference and respect.
It seems in this day and age, respect is not only a forgotten but a purposely ignored quality. By that I mean people disrespect each other on purpose just to make others feel miserable, small, weak, and powerless. Disrespecting may even give them a high, a rush, a feeling of superiority and domination; but we all know it doesn’t last and eventually comes back to bite us.
Being respectful is one of the fundamental qualities taught to us by our parents. It doesn’t matter where you were born and raised, your parents taught you to respect them and other people around you. And I think it’s safe to say that we did, until somewhere along the way we stopped showing respect. Without respect there is no accountability for actions. Without accountability for actions people become careless and often times wreckless. It’s a slippery slope to say the least. Showing respect for one another is the basic practice of goodness, which is our true nature as human beings. Respecting the differences and variabilities of others is the ultimate platform for friendship. Respect promotes dialogue and understanding that facilitates peace and love for one another. Respect allows for creation to happen where otherwise destruction and conflicts would blossom.
Think about the times you were disrespected by someone in your life, how did it make you feel? Angry, frustrated, hateful, resentful, hurt? Sounds about right. Now think about the times when you disrespected someone? How do you think they felt? Perhaps similar to your own experience. So why promote disrespect, why make others feel so small and angry? I say it’s time to show more respect: more respect for yourself, for your family, for your friends, for your peers, for your colleagues, for your teammates, for your enemies, for strangers, for other cultures, for other colors, for your future.
Think about the person you don’t get along with at all but have to deal with because at least for the time being you are stuck with them, whether by choice or not. Think about every opportunity you had to show them respect but instead showed disrespect. I have a suggestion, next time such opportunity arises, show them respect. Choose the words that would not hurt them but lift them up. Do that a few times and observe how your relationship changes. It may take a while given the size of your feud with that person, but I guarantee that if you start showing respect first, they will start doing the same. Eventually your “can’t stand each other” attitude will disappear and get replaced by respect for one another. Wouldn’t it be worth it? The piece of mind that comes with it, the new friendship you can develop, the improved quality of your relationships and many other benefits that you would get to enjoy? That’s right [RESPECT], so simple yet so magical…
Ⓒ 2018, Sergey Kiklevich, CEO of Gambit Solutions Inc.
