Unstoppable Gratitude – Pierce the Taking-for-granted Balloon! (Part 2)
Guest Blog Post by Brian Biro 2/5/12
Have you ever looked up into a brilliant blue sky and spotted a brightly colored hot-air balloon floating on the breeze? Once when I stood enjoying such a scene, the thought struck me that fresh, exciting relationships are like those beautiful balloons. They are light, vibrant, and colorful. Filled with energy, they soar effortlessly. They are lighter than air! That’s just the way we feel when we fall in love, welcome our children into the world, join a new team, or make a new friend. It feels so easy and natural to thank our buddies when we’re in the “glow.”
But what happens when we begin to take them for granted? As I pictured the balloon it occurred to me that the first time we forget to express our thanks, it’s as if we take an acupuncture needle and pierce the balloon. Acupuncture needles are so skinny, the small puncture wouldn’t cause the balloon to explode all at once. Yet the instant the needle pierces the balloon, it starts a slow leak. Each succeeding time you forget to thank your buddy and take him or her more for granted, it’s as if you stick another needle in the balloon, and then another, and another, until eventually enough of the small leaks accumulate, and the balloon begins to fall. As it drops out of the sky, it will look as if the color fades away. With our relationships it will feel as if the spark has begun to fade. Where there was once spirit, energy, and connection, there will be emptiness and detached coexistence.
How do you reverse this downward cycle and keep your relationships alive and energized? The answer is found in an important concept called the principle of exaggeration. A simple example in my next blog will make this principle crystal clear.
Brian Biro is America’s Breakthrough Coach! He is one of the nation’s foremost speakers and teachers of Leadership, Possibility Thinking, Thriving on Change, and Team-Building. He has delivered over 1,200 presentations around the world over the last 20 years.
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