Gratitude: an opening of the heart

Having lived in Taiwan for eleven years, I came to love the Chinese language. I am not an expert at all so I rely on my Genealogy and Dictionary of Chinese Characters to help me. When I read David Zinger's beautiful article on Signature Stories, I thought about the Chinese characters for gratitude.

The first character means to "bite the heart" leaving an open gash. The second character is a combination of several characters which, taken together mean, "surging water that is unrestrained, shooting out." So, a Chinese person when using the word "gratitude" could be saying, "You have opened my heart and I can't hold it back." Gratitude flows from an unrestrained heart.

David wrote, "I have heard it said that some people make their marks while others sign their names." This is the same idea. Whether an indelible signature or unrestrained flow, both present gratitude as a life changing force.

My favorite author C. S. Lewis said, "Gratitude looks to the past and love to the present..." If this is true, perhaps our ability to love now is affected by our gratitude for the past. I'm not sure that is what he meant. But, what I do know is that I desire gratitude and love to always be at the core of my life and relationships. And, perhaps, at expected and unexpected moments, in a variety of ways, I will be able to help others open their hearts so much that they cannot hold back. If that were to happen, I would certainly be a person most grateful.

~ Dean Boyer

(picture courtesy of Chinese Culture at About.com)

Comments

[David Zinger]

Dean

I have much gratitude for your elaboration of the Chinese characters for gratitude: surging water that is unrestrained, shooting out --- the is a powerful flow!

David

[Rosa Say]

Wow Dean, I concur with David - pretty powerful! I love discovering the kaona (sometimes hidden, storied meaning, pronounced "cow nah" in Hawaiian) in the composition and writing of other languages, and Chinese is very proverb rich, is it not?

[Karen Wallace]

"And, perhaps, at expected and unexpected moments, in a variety of ways, I will be able to help others open their hearts so much that they cannot hold back."

Dean, this is truly an inspirational goal, and a very powerful post. I think you've already opened a few hearts here...

Gratitude IS a life-changing force, and we're truly grateful you have shared this with us.

[April Groves]

What an amazing visual. I can start my day now.

[Joanna Young]

Dean, likewise, this post really struck home with me.

"Gratitude flows from an unrestrained heart" - like the Chinese characters you're describing these short simple words contain so much meaning, and wisdom.

Joanna