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"The best way to show my gratitude is to accept everything, even my problems, with joy." ― Mother Teresa
Gratitude is a positive emotion of experiencing or recognizing the goodness in your life and is followed by your deep appreciation for it. You can experience such a feeling of gratitude when you are suddenly excited and feel joy for your good health after a health examination. Or when you realize insignificant little things around you are the source of incredible happiness. I have experienced these feelings more frequently and powerfully at times in the last few years. Spontaneously, I paused for a moment to allow myself to absorb those great feelings of kindness, blessing and pleasure.
Imperfections are part of human nature. Hence, we all are imperfect creations. We have no control over most of the imperfections and therefore, we all suffer from them in life. But they are part of our existence, not our enemies. The only way to control them is not to struggle with them but to accept them as they are and win their friendship.
In fact, imperfections give us meaning in our life. We help each other because of imperfections and that is what our society is all about. If everything was perfect, we wouldn't have many things we have now such as schools, hospitals, prisons, churches, etc. In that sense, the most important quality of gratitude is to accept imperfections and/or defects with joy.
l suffer from and endure my disabilities which still disturb me persistently: poor eyesight and cross-eyed impairment after retina surgeries, almost becoming deaf due to hearing loss and an inability to write because of a hand tremor. Due to these disabilities, when I am at the train ticket counter or at the bank, I have to show them my disability certification, and they write on a piece of paper to talk to me and the cashier fills out bank forms for me. However, most fortunately and gratefully, I can walk on my own two feet, living independently and doing errands by myself. And I still write on my laptop for contributions. Isn't this a small miracle for a crippled nonagenarian? I think I owe these blessings to my gratitude and acceptance of imperfections, and also my daily walking exercise which has supported me physically over the years.
Yet, there were times, now and then, when I felt a little unsteady on my feet and I was afraid I might fall. I laid down for a while and the unpleasant sensation left me a little while later. I was so glad and immensely grateful. I hear falls are very common among aging adults and that such falls often result in fractures and even brain injuries. Therefore, with my poor vision and wobbly mobility, I don't dare to walk up those hazardous doorsteps to enter public buildings. Instead, I always go around and walk on the accessibility ramp for easy and safer access.
These days, being in my twilight years, living each day seems increasingly precarious and a bit daunting. The statistics of a study on aging showed that about 75 percent of older seniors have at least one chronic disease such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, dementia and physical injuries, and 60 percent of them have two diseases. However, as far as I know, I have never been had any of these dreadful illnesses. I know I suffer from anemia, but I understand it's not a serious condition yet. Asa consequence, I might just as well consider myself a very lucky person.
There are myriad small and unimportant things around us that are usually taken for granted, and yet they are the things that truly make life worth living. In other words, we have to live life as though every little thing is a precious gift for our life. I make conscious efforts to practice these grateful feelings on a daily basis.
Yi Woo-won (yiwoowon1988@gmail.com) lives in Waegwan, North Gyeongsang Province, and has been writing since 1986.
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