Sharing Gratitude

By Kamali Sampathkumar

My family and I were attending an international Eckankar seminar. As the seminar ended we were in a hurry. We had to check out of our hotel by twelve o’clock, because we had a long drive (over twenty-four hours) ahead of us. It would be challenging to get home and be on time for work the next day.

My youngest daughter was so in love with the seminar that year. She was so happy about it at the end of the seminar she wanted to fill out the feedback form to share her gratitude.

In a hurry, her dad said, “They aren’t going to read your feedback. Forget it. Let’s go home.”

I said, “She wants to share her feedback, and that is valid. So how about you go back to the hotel and get things packed, and I will help her give feedback. We’ll meet you in the room when we are done.”

My daughter asked, “Mom, do you really think they are going to read my feedback?”

As an ECK parent, I teach my daughters the importance of gratitude and how sharing our gratitude can be a way of serving others. I said, “Yes, absolutely. If you loved the seminar so much and you want to share your love with others, then share it. Tell them what you loved.”

Printing was still hard for her, and there wasn’t a lot of room, so she asked me to write down what she wanted to say. She shared how happy she was, how much fun she had, how she made friends, and how grateful she was for all the experiences. We wrote down all the things she was grateful for, put the form in the box, and went back to the room.

A short time after we got home she received a letter from the Eckankar Spiritual Center, thanking her for her feedback. She couldn’t believe it! She was so excited they had read her feedback! It validated that her gratitude and her inner nudge to share her joy from the seminar was important. This experience gave her a deeper trust in herself and taught her a wonderful spiritual lesson: As gratitude and love is given, so it is returned. Her gift of gratitude was returned by the acknowledgement from Eckankar.

*     *     *

Print this Gallery of Gratitude ECK family activity sheet to help you creatively place your attention on gratitude.