Gratitude: The Virus that Lives on Forever By Aura Imbarus, Ph.D.

Gratitude: The Virus that Lives on Forever

By Aura Imbarus, Ph.D.

As I am peeling myself out of bed and my feet hit the floor, my mind goes straight to my parents and grandparents. They are the first and last ones I think of, after I open my eyes and right before I fall asleep. 

All of them crossed over to the other side, way too young and way too innocent, but their DNA still lives and thrives in me.

As I get on with my morning routine, I cannot stop thinking of my mom, who used to say: “With one flower, spring is not going to come. It is the same thing with kindness.” 

How can I forget those words? How can I pretend that kindness only relates to things and financial support? From the sharing of a simple smile to the giving of a small flower, kindness can spread like a virus, infecting all the ones touched by it. 

It can ease off someone’s  anxiety; it can calm down someone’s erratic behavior; it can release a build-up tension, as it can change someone’s mood from negative to positive.

Kindness: such a simple thing to share via a tiny gesture like a “hello” or a “good-bye,” a smile, a thank-you card, a nice applauding email or a congratulatory note.

It can be spread in a second, but its effects can last for a lifetime.

It is never too late to send a praise email to someone you have not seen in a long time or make amends with someone you had issues with or give a compliment to a stranger, a wink to a child, send a grocery card to an elderly one, or simply wake up in the morning and thank your ancestors and this universe for giving you two gifts each and every morning, two gifts that you are lucky to be able to open up on your own: your eyes. 

Bio - Dr. AURA IMBARUS

Dr. Aura Imbarus is an awarded educator, freelance journalist, motivational speaker, and author of the critically acclaimed Amazon best-seller and Pulitzer Prize entry, Out of the Transylvania Night: A Story of Tyranny, Freedom, Love and Identity (Bettie Youngs Books, 2010), a memoir detailing her life in Romania during the Communist regime, and an upcoming self-help book, Conversations with the Past: A Journey Home (Rainbow Ridge Books, Sept 2020). She was featured on NBC, ABC, CNBC, Good Morning San Diego, Forbes Romania, etc.

She is also the president and founder of See Beyond Media, a company focusing on adolescents’ challenges in the 21st century, having as its launching platform See Beyond Magazine (www.seebeyondmag.com) and of Raw and Real with Leo and Aura podcast, where on a light and humorous tone she is examining and dissecting social issues. Dr. Imbarus is a licensed clinical hypnotherapist, having trained with Dr. Brian Weiss and Dr. Wanita Holmes.

She sits on the Advisory Board of CA Ballet, is a member of Royal Society of St. George, SACC – Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce; she is also one of the founding members of RACC – Romanian-American Chamber of Commerce, CA.

In her free time she is taking ballroom dancing. She loves car racing, skiing, yoga, sailing and traveling.