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Friend -> RE: Today, I'm grateful for imagination... (3/3/2008 1:50:19 PM)
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quote:
Today, I'm grateful for imagination
Being that the purpose of this whole website is promote the spiritual practice of grateful living, I'd like to point out that the gift of imagination is a very special aid.
We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and, like with everything else, when it comes to imagination, creative thinking, etc... some people are challenged and some people are gifted.
Some people who aren't as gifted when it comes to imagination and creative thinking have a harder time seeing the big picture of all the things we are grateful for -- and little things like ugly weather cause them to feel "Gratitude Challenged."
For example, I was just browsing over the last couple pages of a thread here where people who feel "Gratitude Challenged" post the things that challenge their practice of grateful living, and several people were talking about how ugly weather was causing them to feel "Gratitude Challenged."
When I read that, the first thing that popped into my head was two instances of books I've read in recent history where the imagination and creative thinking of the author helped widen my eyes to the world of gratefulness:
I don't remember exactly which books they were of the top of my head, but I remember that one author wrote something to the effect of realizing that even on a day where the sky is covered with dark, ugly clouds -- we should always realize that right above that layer of clouds, the day is still beautiful -- the sun is shining and the sky is gorgeous.
The other thing it reminded me of when an author was just talking about how grateful we should just be to have the gift of eyesight. He didn't point out that there are many in this world who are blind, instead, he focused on just how amazing our eyesight is. The thing that really spoke to me was the way he tried to remind us of all the colors that our eyes our capable of seeing. It reminded me of computer monitors, how they were first monochrome (often just black and green), then 4-color, then 256-color, etc. Imagine if our eyesight was only capable of seeing 2 colors or 4 colors, or no colors at all. Although the author's point had nothing to do with ugly weather -- it is still valid. On those days were one feels "Gratitude Challenged" because of ugly weather, one could just remind oneself to be grateful that at least he or she can see the ugly weather (and is not blind), or that he or she can at least see the ugly weather in all its colors (and not just in black and white or a few colors).
My point is that there are many, many ways for humans to use the gifts of imagination and creative thinking to help our fellow humans see the big picture of all the things we are grateful for. Because of that, imagination/creative thinking is one of the many great gifts given to mankind that we should always be very grateful for.
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