On a cold winter morning, Ahmed was waiting for the bus he usually takes to work, wondering whether he should take a rickshaw instead. As he idly glanced this way and that, his eyes fell upon a man coming towards him with a big smile on his face. Ahmed was confused. Did he know this person? Why else would he be smiling? As the man came closer Ahmed realized that he had never seen this face before. And it wasn’t smiling at him either. The man did not have an upper lip, which gave it a permanently smiling expression. Maybe he was born this way; maybe he had had a brutal accident. Whatever the reason, Ahmed was sure he never wanted something like this to happen to him in his lifetime.

Ahmed almost lost his breath. It was as if he was struck by lightning. He thought, ‘How lucky I am! I have a full face. Still, I whine and complain like anything about my looks! Why can’t I say, ‘I am wonderful just the way I am! Thank you God for everything You have blessed me with!’

Ahmed is lucky. The insight he had that day was probably the most valuable insight of his life. When we are thankful for what we have, we are at peace. This inner peace improves our health. It enables us to use our resources in a planned way to achieve our goals. God also likes thankful people. Every great religion has emphasized the importance of positivity and gratitude.

Most of us complain about what we don’t have all the time. But once we start thinking about all that has been given to us, we are amazed. The list just goes on and on. God is so merciful that even if He gives us any trouble, He makes sure it is nothing we cannot handle. He has declared so Himself!

The glass in almost full yet we consider it half empty. How many times we have argued with our husband or wife accusing him/her of not being understanding or considerate? Won’t it be easier (and more effective) to realize that we are also to be blamed for the situation? How many of us even think about our relationships until there is a crisis? We get frustrated when we don’t get good scores in exams and start talking rubbish about our teachers, forgetting that our performance was not up to the mark. Our tendency is to always see what is not there. And it is precisely this tendency that we need to change. Being proactive means concentrating on the positives and finding a way to resolve day to day problems with a calm head, instead of being overwhelmed by them.

2012 has just begun. There is a bright new year ahead of us. Gurujee has officially declared this the year breaking the cycle of negativity. To accomplish this goal we need to remember that thankfulness is the magic stone that can take away all the unhappiness, idleness and illness from our lives. Let us start to count what really needs to be counted. May God give all of us the wisdom to realize the truth lying under the illusion!!