In addition to broadcasting goodwill from within, there is one other powerful way to evoke life response through our relationships with others. It is to express our deepest appreciation and thanks to others: in other words, to show our gratitude. Over the years, it has been noticed that any serious attempt to shift an attitude from indifference or lack of recognition to one of deep thanks and appreciation for the involvement of others tends to elicit powerful positive results from life.
To illustrate gratitude’s power to evoke sudden good fortune for that individual, an episode in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice would be a good example. At the climatic incident near the end of story, the elopement episode that threatened to scandalize the family has passed, and has fortunately done no serious harm. However, in the wake of the near-debacle, Mr. Darcy unexpectedly arrives to visit Eliza at her home to discuss matters.
When Darcy appears, he and Eliza take a stroll along a path outside the Bennet home. It is on this walk that the two finally get to express their thoughts and feelings about recent events. It is clear from Darcy’s initial comments that he is still very much in love with Eliza. Just below the surface of his carefully phrased remarks, he yearns to express the love he feels for her. Likewise, Eliza has strong feelings welling up inside her as well. Though they are eager to share their thoughts and deep feelings, it is Eliza who speaks first.
She begins by expressing her heartfelt gratitude to Darcy for having saved her family from scandal and financial ruin by playing the critical role in resolving the elopement episode. Through that difficult ordeal, she has come to understand several painful truths about herself, and about life. For one, she realizes that she had been deceived by the rogue Mr. Wickham who ran off with her sister. She has also come to recognize – through the elopement and other episodes – the wanting, even vulgar behavior of members of her family, including the conduct of her brazen youngest sister Lydia, as well as that of her churlish, loud-mouthed mother. Eliza notes that this is in fact something that Darcy had pointed out from the outset. With these thoughts in mind, Eliza then summons up the courage and expresses her deepest appreciation and thanks to Darcy for his noble action in resolving the scandal. Her gratitude goes out to him not only for her own sake, but on behalf of her family as well.
Then it is Darcy’s turn to speak. He begins by acknowledging Eliza’s sincerity and heartfelt emotions. He then quickly seizes the opening by expressing once again his deepest feelings towards her. He then follows that up by asking for her hand in marriage. Unlike his first proposal, revealed earlier on in the story, this time Eliza most gladly and joyfully accepts his offer. As a result of their marriage, not only does Eliza experience great personal happiness, but it also brings great financial fortune to her family.
Thus, examining this incident from a consciousness point of view, it is clearly seen how Eliza’s heartfelt thanks and appreciation for Darcy’s effort directly led to his most proposal of marriage. She expressed her gratitude, and life instantly responded in kind through his proposal, bringing her ultimate happiness in life.
It should be pointed out that this was a most unexpected turn of events for Eliza, because after the elopement episode she had long given up on the idea that Darcy was still interested in her. In her mind, her family’s previous crude behavior and the recent scandalous elopement had surely destroyed any interest he may have had in her, and that his current visit was a mere formality to discuss things in the wake of the affair. And yet because she came to grips with the truth of things, saw Darcy’s role in saving her family, and then expressed her deepest heart-felt thanks and appreciation, she was able to instantly attract her heart’s desire in the form of the sudden and most unexpected marriage proposal that would bring her ultimate happiness in life.
(excerpt taken from a pre-release version of the book The Miraculous Phenomenon of Life Response by Roy Posner)