By Dr Jeanette Pinto –
Life is a miracle, a God-given gift, not something we have earned or are entitled to. When you adopt an attitude that is open to life, you will always be inspired to appreciate it. Life is constantly renewing itself; therefore you will feel renewed yourself. You will begin to see the good in people. If you feel the intangible qualities and energies of others, you will appreciate the simplest of things. You will basically create a feedback loop of energy between your inner world and the outer world. When we become indifferent, we close that loop, and stop appreciating. Surely life is full of many ups and downs and challenging times. But love for life will help you still the turbulent waters of your life and help make you a person who is constantly appreciating the gift of life.
Many people are unaware of the power contained within ourselves to harness the unique force known as the power of appreciation. The power of appreciation enables us to channel our inner most thoughts to overcome any obstacle in our way. We can unleash that power so that our lives are free of fear, troubles, worry and anxiety. Our lives will become satisfying and we will start to enjoy every moment of our existence.
Scripture tells us that Jesus said: “I came that they may have life and have it in abundance.” John 10:10. Appreciating life in its fullness is the foundation for making the most of your life. There are so many people and experiences we each have, encounters that hold hidden opportunity to learn as much as we can from every person we meet and every experience we have. To APPRECIATE life, people and everything around you, you need to “Stop and smell the roses” of this wonderful LIFE. Our Creator has freely given to us this gift of life to explore our world and all the different people, enjoy various cultures, appreciate the marvels of creation and praise and glorify Him on this beautiful planet.
Very simple thoughts like, ‘I appreciate the air that I breathe, I appreciate the sunshine, and I appreciate the relationship that I am in. I appreciate the food that I eat; I appreciate the house that I live, I appreciate everything in my life.’ Clearly, the more we do that, the more we can benefit from truly appreciating the various aspects of life, and create a culture of life.
In appreciating the gift of life, our goal should be to inspire, uplift, and motivate others through the positive power of words, music, and images. We believe we can make a difference in the lives of people and in turn make the world a better place for all of us. Reach out to others no matter what life brings. We believe there is nothing more powerful than optimistic and encouraging action to bring light and hope to others whatever be the condition they are in.
In our daily communication we can decide to be Life-giving or Death-dealing. By respecting, encouraging, appreciating, helping, listening, forgiving, caring, loving and thanking, we become life-giving, for truly these are the qualities of the heart. It makes you a Pro-life person. We could be death-dealing by hurting, criticizing, judging, belittling, grudging, ignoring, distancing, and condemning. All this is base, de-humanising and kills the spirit. It also makes you an anti-life person. What you have received from your grand-parents, parents and extended family by way of belief- systems, customs, practices and values, is what you would like to bestow on your children and future generations.
On the flip side of appreciating life, today we are exposed more and more to the abuse of life. What is widely prevalent today is violence and injustice that have led to the culture of death, rather than the culture of life. Abuse of human life assaults the dignity of a person as a bearer of the image of God. Human abuse is an offense against God, be it physical, psychological, or emotional. Abuse arises from pride, greed, lust, hatred, ignorance, or indifference. Abuse may be intentional or unintentional; it may result from inappropriate acts of commission or omission, but clearly it is a violent act.
Abuse can happen at any time during the life span of a person: in infancy, childhood and all the way through to the last stages of life. We believe that God’s image is dishonoured when a person is ill-treated, beaten, abused or de-humanised. We hear and read of prenatal and infant abuse, abuse in childhood, abuse in adolescence, abuse in adulthood, as well as elder abuse. Some forms of abuse can occur in any life stage. Drug abuse be it alcohol or any chemical substance is life abuse. Social abuse like bride burning, rape and paedophilia is also life abuse. The spiritual dimension of abuse, for example, seems to occur over a wide range of life stages. The resulting harm may be permanent, reparable, or only partially reparable. While not all harm is the result of abuse, any form of abuse results in harm and desecration of the human person for, “…do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you…?” 1 Cor.6:19
Here are some powerful ways to appreciate life: Firstly, remember that you won’t live forever, your time here is limited, and it’s up to you to decide how you’ll use it. Don’t wait for a near-death experience to decide to live life to the fullest. Secondly keep a small journal and write down what you’re thankful for. Don’t write down major things like getting a new car, or having a baby. Write and appreciate the many things in life you might not even have noticed before. Thirdly, instead of complaining that you live in a small house, be thankful; remember that 3,000 years ago you would have been living under a tent made of animal hides. A lot depends on our own perspective. Fourthly, think about how much worse it could be when you look at your life compared to whomever you think has the perfect life, there probably isn’t really that much of a difference. Happiness is to be found not merely with materialism and consumerism, but within a person.
Final thoughts, I’m not suggesting that you stop trying to improve and be all you can be. But a lot of the time, we get so focused on trying to make our lives better and better that we forget to appreciate what we already have. If you’re obsessed with reaching some finish line off in the distance, you’ll spend your whole life trying to get there, and then realize at the very end that you missed a lot along the way. Don’t do that; be appreciative now; choose, cherish and celebrate the beautiful gift of life.
Dr Jeanette Pinto, an educator for the past 5 decades, headed the Department of History was Vice Principal of St. Xavier’s College Mumbai, and retired as Principal of Sophia College, Mumbai. She is a counsellor and conductor of Personal Enrichment Programmes for students and teachers.
She set up the Human Life Committee in the Archdiocese of Bombay. As a sex educator she has given talks on Human Sexuality in India and abroad. In 2014 she received the Rachana Outstanding Woman of the Year for her Pro-life work presented by the Diocese of Mangalore. She has attended many National and International Pro-life conferences and given talks at other fora on various women’s issues.
She is author of a couple of books, her most recent ones are titled: I’m Pro-Life Are you? & Sex Talk: Parent to Child. She has also written a number of articles on a variety of themes and subjects, which have been published in research journals, The Examiner and other Catholic publications.