Express Gratitude

We notice what we focus on and we seek evidence to support our beliefs. If we (unconsciously) ask ourselves, “what’s wrong with people and the world,” we’ll search for examples to answer the question. Similarly, if we ask ourselves, “What’s great about life? What should I be grateful for?” we find very different answers.

There is much, too much, that needs fixing in the world, but while we keep an eye toward making conditions better for all the world’s inhabitants, we can also remember all the blessings for which we should feel joyous. We become accustomed to our circumstances and environment. What we live every day seems normal and blends into the background of our consciousness.

Much of practicing gratitude is considering our world without that which we love. Sometimes we become automatons and need an external reminder, an event that forces us to look outside of our inner world and routine. Through comparison to others, we are jolted out of sleepiness and staleness, and are reminded of our fortune and all that we treasure.

While downward comparisons can serve to open our eyes, we must use caution in measuring our lives by the conditions of others as we run the risk of setting our expectations inappropriately. We may feel more grateful for our small home after seeing a homeless person, but considerably less so when we visit the grander home of a colleague or friend. To experience gratitude, we must manage the delicate balance between acknowledging that there are always those who are doing “better” and those who are doing “worse.” We must assign the appropriate value to our circumstances, focusing on what we love most in our lives and not obsessing about what’s missing, particularly when we have contrived something “missing” that would never really serve us anyway.

As we make gratitude a conscious practice and habit, we need downward comparisons less as a reference point. We find gratitude intrinsically; that is, we notice what we love in isolation of other markers or references.

There is another challenge is practicing gratitude: to make it a habit in a way that keeps the experience fresh and conscious, but without making us complacent or lazy about what we have and where we are. Being grateful does not excuse us from being social activists. Being grateful does not negate our continued struggle to improve ourselves and the world around us.

At the risk of becoming like the Alec Baldwin character from an episode of “Friends,” not necessarily in any order, here is my very short and incomplete gratitude list for today:

My husband and family.
MASN (Duh!).
Better pitchers.
Employment.
NPR
Diane Rehm (see this link: http://whalesong.net/).
Barack Obama winning North Carolina.
Readers like my friend Mindpinball and Ray, even if he (Ray) complained incessantly about the Orioles posts.
My health.
Happiness.
Clean drinking water.
Friendly colleagues.
The Internet.
Being alive during the Information Age.
Anticipation of vacations.
Time after work with my husband.
Incredibly beautiful parks.
Food and time to prepare it in the comfort of my own kitchen.
Teddy Roosevelt and people like him, who had the courage, wisdom, insight, and dedication to consider the future, leaving something beautiful for future generations (us) to inherit.

What’s your list?

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