| I have become acquainted with a person who suffered from stomach cancer
and was declared to have no hope of recovery by a doctor, but was later
cured by no particular treatment. This person told me that, gup to the
time of my becoming ill I hadnft felt appreciation for my stomach even
once. After that, though, I have been living expressing thanks to my stomach
daily for its tireless service to me for a long time.h Among the various ways humans feel joy is the joy of gratitude. It is not a self-centered way of feeling joy. It is a way of experiencing joy through humility and feeling sympathy for others. After feeling real gratitude, onefs heart is filled with a desire to serve others. Living a life of gratitude and service makes the heart and mind more generous. And as one cultivates the generous heart in this way, one comes to love other people and to value them more. People who want to bring joy to others are also good at feeling joy themselves. This is why they usually look so radiant. It seems to me that the more generous a heart one has, the stronger and more radiant one looks. People with generous hearts are sincere and generous, and they have the capacity to understand others. As a result, they are able to develop trusting relationships with almost anyone. Although it may seem easy to consider matters by imagining oneself in the position of another, it is an extremely difficult thing to do. In the same way that you cannot measure an object properly with a crude ruler, those with poor minds will see nothing when they try to put themselves in the shoes of others. However, people with a heart full of wonderful qualities will be able to see and recognize the wonderful qualities of all kinds of people. As our hearts become ever more generous, the world we can see expands, I believe. |