When disappointment, failure, sadness and loss hit all at once, being grateful, or feeling any positive emotion, may be the last thing on your mind. It also helps one bounce back from adversity. One mindfulness teacher observed that Singaporeans generally have difficulty expressing gratitude and appreciation for others. With some practice, it is possible to train the mind to experience and express gratitude more easily over time.
Besides having to come to terms with missing out on an award that she had expected to receive, the postgraduate at the Singapore Management University (SMU) was grieving when her grandmother died earlier this year. What lifted her from the doldrums eventually was when she looked on what had happened through the lens of gratitude. “Mind you, I am still not happy about not receiving the award — and that’s okay, and an appropriate emotion to have in this context