Gratitude

Gratitude is everything.

The happiest people I know are grateful. The unhappiest people I know are ungrateful. Gratitude takes a sad person and gives them joy, ingratitude takes a happy person and makes them miserable.

Gratitude is what allows someone to endure all sorts of injustice and hardship and emerge stronger and more resilient instead of broken and cynical.

A lack of gratitude is what causes people who have everything to need more and more and more, creating the cycle of suffering that is greed and self-absorption. A lack of gratitude is what allows people with more than enough to be miserable and angry and to seek to inflict their suffering on others.

I won’t say gratitude can fix everything, but it can certainly make everything less dismal and more enjoyable.

It is the root of everything good for us.

In many ways, it is at the heart of mindfulness as it allows us to cultivate a deep appreciation and love for the very simple act of being in the moment, and for all the simple things the moment offers.

We’ll look at gratitude for the next few (many?) days. I didn’t feel like putting a specific time limit on it.

Where are you lacking gratitude in your life?

Are there things that you could be grateful for that you are missing?

What would things be like if gratitude was your first instinct?

Thanks for reading.