Viral Gratitude—in the Time of Corona

Especially in these uncertain times, mastering the art of gratitude is essential for business success and happiness at home.

True gratitude requires gracious giving and receiving. While giving feels great, it’s easy to be stingy about receiving.

It’s funny to see how lightly we talk about gratitude with thoughts of Thanksgiving turkey and not really embrace the obligations that come with it. We are grateful for something or someone. Others are grateful for something or someone. For true gratitude to live in our hearts and daily lives, we must dive into a gratitude continuum of giving and receiving.

For some of us, it’s just so easy to give without allowing others the grace of giving to us. Is this just as stingy as those that receive and take and take without ever giving to others? Does it count just as much if we are giving to ourselves as to others? Existential as these questions seem, it’s really all about how we invite grace and gratitude in our pursuit of the best fit along the gratitude continuum.

Appreciating ourselves, others, and the greater context means acknowledging the good and the bad in each of these. So to whom are you giving now? From whom are you receiving? What needs doing for a better flow of two-sided gratitude?

With a bit of gentle nudging, a sense of humor, and a big dose of honesty, we can really explore that healthy fit of gratitude for each of us in each context in our lives. Then, and only then, can gratitude become viral.