Discourses on the Five Principles - Principle Three

Just for today give thanks. Sounds easy right? The practice of gratitude eludes me so much of the time. I find myself wanting life to be different. I find myself wanting things I do not have. I find myself yearning for something that I cannot even articulate. I crave. I am bound by desire. In this state of attachment I cannot find the space for gratitude. I fail to be thankful for the abundance all around me because I'm blinded by my grasping mind. I suffer.

In the past year I had a couple of very clear lessons on gratitude. First, I was working a job I did not like. I was isolated, the daily tasks were boring, and the pay left something to be desired. I spent my days wanting something different. I spent my days focused on what made me miserable. My body suffered. I ached, was exhausted from the tedium. I was unaware of gratitude. It wasn't that I refused to be thankful, I was so wrapped up in my suffering that gratitude did not even hit the radar screen.

I don't remember what prompted a change. (Probably my husband) I decided - chose - to be grateful for my job. I chose to see what brought me joy in the job. I chose to give thanks even for the things that I did not like about the job. I became truly grateful. I ached less and had a little more energy. I was more productive. Gratitude undid my attachment to my grasping mind and allowed me to be present. A week or so after beginning to be truly grateful for my job, it ended. Abruptly.

A similar thing happened a few months later. I had been driving the same car for about 5 years. It was a great car. Old but ran really well and keeping it on the road cost far less than making car payments. I wanted something else though. I wanted a new car. A "fun" car. A more fuel efficient car. A whatever...... I was not grateful for the car I had.

Again, I don't know what prompted the change, but I became truly grateful for the car. I realized all those good things I said about the car were true. I started giving thanks from my heart for the car. For the reliability and the rust. I became more at ease with the present moment and circumstances and had joy in driving my car. About a week later my car was totaled in an accident. No one was injured but the car was not salvageable. Gratitude, it seemed, had brought another big loss.

Then it hit me! It sometimes takes me awhile to understand things. Gratitude is not a happy pill or a cure-all for things we don't like. It is not a means of making the impermanent permanent. Gratitude is the practice of being in life as it is at every moment. Gratitude releases us from the grasping mind and allows us to relax in our life as it is. Whether employed or unemployed, whether the car runs or doesn't, whether we are well or ill. Whatever our state of being may be, gratitude allows us to fully live it in every moment without creating more suffering for ourselves. Gratitude allows us to stop grasping at mental fantasies and frees us to take actions needed to engage life as it is and cultivate more joy. Gratitude empowers us to live!

Just for today I am thankful. I vow to celebrate all things as blessing.