Gratitude & Generosity = Happiness

Dur­ing some reju­ve­na­tion time in Mex­i­co, over the hol­i­days, we took a cook­ing class from a Mex­i­can chef/​restaurateur who was equal parts spec­tac­u­lar chef and spir­i­tu­al teacher.

It was a chance to expe­ri­ence one of the best parts about trav­el, which is meet­ing local peo­ple and get­ting to know the cul­ture. And this expe­ri­ence went beyond expectation.

In the class, as we chopped veg­eta­bles for an amaz­ing sal­sa, we asked chef how well to chop the onion. Used to receiv­ing pre­cise instruc­tions when learn­ing some­thing new, we were sur­prised when he said it didn’t matter.

What was impor­tant, he said, was the fla­vor and the expe­ri­ence – not just eat­ing the sal­sa but mak­ing it.

He also stressed the impor­tance of not cook­ing when you’re mad or upset because that ener­gy goes into the food. Your food, he says, should be full of flavour and love.

A beau­ti­ful definition

His cook­book reflect­ed this thought­ful approach to enjoy­ing food, and a core val­ue of the Mex­i­can cul­ture: that grat­i­tude and gen­eros­i­ty equals happiness.

I thought that was the most beau­ti­ful def­i­n­i­tion of hap­pi­ness I’ve ever seen. Grat­i­tude to ground you in all the things that are great and per­fect, in this moment. Gen­eros­i­ty being the will­ing­ness to share those things with oth­er peo­ple around you.

It’s a reminder that when we don’t feel at our best – when we are less com­pelled to be gen­er­ous – we can shift our mind, ener­gy and our hap­pi­ness by real­ly appre­ci­at­ing where we are and what we have and shar­ing it with others.

In the class, we made new friends from anoth­er coun­try, who we toured the city with for the rest of the day. The whole expe­ri­ence has stayed with me: amaz­ing food, great con­ver­sa­tions, laugh­ter with new friends…so much to be grate­ful for!

The Chal­lenge

• If you already feel like you’re at a ⁹⁄₁₀ or 10/10 in terms of both grat­i­tude and gen­eros­i­ty, take a minute to soak in and appre­ci­ate how won­der­ful that is.
• If you’re not, what could you do to expe­ri­ence more grat­i­tude or to be more gen­er­ous today?

Addi­tion­al Blogs

• What Makes You Happy?
• Are You Liv­ing an Amaz­ing Life?
• Embrac­ing the Moment: Are You on the Dance Floor?

Lawrence & Co’s work focus­es on sus­tain­able and enhanced growth for you and your busi­ness. Our diverse and expe­ri­enced group of advi­sors can help your lead­ers and exec­u­tive teams stay com­pet­i­tive through the use of var­i­ous learn­ing tools includ­ing work­shops, webi­na­rs, exec­u­tive retreats, or one-to-one coaching.

We help high-achiev­ing lead­ers to have it all – a great busi­ness and a reward­ing life. Con­tact us for sim­ple and impact­ful advice. No BS. No fluff.