Attitude of Gratitude

I was at Manipal hospital just the other day to see a friend - they had a baby boy. Everybody was very happy.

But everytime I go to Manipal or St John’s hospital - which is quite frequent, by the way - I make it a point to walk past the Emergency room and go and stand outside the Emergency entrance for a few minutes. And almost every single time I’ve been there, I’ve seen somebody being wheeled in. Somebody in not so great a condition. And somebody with them really worried about what will happen. Somebody whose only wish at that time is that their loved one just be fine - and they don’t want anything else from life anymore. 

And each such time, the experience humbles me to my core. It reminds me of my impermanence, the fleeting nature of life and the futility of things we worry about most of the time. I just come out with infinite gratitude.

Interacting with the thousands of people that we work with, as we reach this level in this business; and not just working with them like other professions, but being a part of their most intimate thoughts and their intricate lives; everytime I meet somebody depressed and frustrated over some silly issue, everytime I meet a couple fighting with each other like cats and dogs over why he or she said something in front of somebody or for somebody....and countless other trivial matters....all I feel like is to take them and place them in front of that Emergency room for just 10 minutes. And I am sure, they will feel like they are majoring on the minors. That they have everything they could have wished for and more already. 

Isn’t just the mere fact that we can walk on our feet and eat with our mouths and see with our eyes and understand what somebody is saying and laugh with our babies and rest our shoulders against our loved ones not enough to be thankful for? Imagine going Crown Ambassador and not having any one of the above.....