What Do Gratitude And David Bowie Have In Common?
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8jT9FVIVSU&w=584&h=390]
There’s a scene in The Labyrinth (1986) Sara gets stuck on the first task, getting through the wall. She looks around wildly and understands that she can’t go forward and she can’t go back. There is no choice.
She says, “This just goes on and on. Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe I’m just taking for granted that it does.” She understands she is taking things for granted, but yet, she still runs around frustrated and aggravates herself to the point that she’s not in the headspace to understand what is happening.
Then she meets the little worm. The worm tells her that there are lots of openings; she just has to see them. She can walk through the wall if she wants she just has to try. She has to see things differently.
Albert Einstein said that a problem cannot be solved using the same thinking that created it.
This is what makes gratitude so powerful. It’s you, taking a look around, understanding what you have, and allowing yourself to create more. When you see what you do have you can see the opportunities in your life. There are so many doors, but we close them without thinking.
We say, “no, I can’t buy nice clothes because I’m not skinny enough to wear them”, or, “I can’t apply for that position, because someone probably has more experience than me.” In other words, we can’t go that way, because we don’t see a door yet.
The problem is that there are no doors until you take a leap of faith. Until you take action. When you take action, opportunities are created. It sounds cheesy, I know. Sarah knew that she was taking things for granted, but she couldn’t move forward until she took action by speaking to the worm. By slowing down, looking down, and seeing things from a different perspective,
Gratitude isn’t staying stagnant. It’s not being ok with mediocrity. It’s about not letting things stop you when life isn’t perfect.
Don’t waste your time trying to count all the doors you can’t see, you’ll miss all the ones that have been open to you.