Gratitude

Hello friend,

Welcome or welcome back to my blog! 😊

Today’s talk is on gratitude.

I choose to believe in the existence of God and thus, I pray.

In my morning prayer today, I started as I usually do by saying “Heavenly Father, thank you for this day.” And then, I stopped.

During and prior to my training as a therapist I realized that though my path to recovery included a belief in God others’ path may not. I place deep value on helping all persons. This sentiment led me to the conclusion that whatever tools I have found useful during my own spiritual journey must be made available for use without a belief in God.

So, today’s talk is on gratitude.

I was taught “give thanks!” Throughout my walk I have heard many say “thanks” but have been under the impression that they do not experience the feelings associated with gratitude. Do you?

Merriam-Webster (2019) defines gratitude as:  The state of being grateful: Thankfulness.

What is “being grateful?” This source defines grateful as: 1) appreciative of benefits received; 2) Pleasing by reason of comfort supplied or discomfort alleviated.

In “giving thanks” are we merely saying the words which represent a concept or are we experiencing the state of appreciation for comfort supplied or discomfort alleviated?

To experience gratitude, it would seem that there needs to be a target to whom one directs their appreciation- for a believer, this target would be God. But, what about those who don’t believe? Can these folks also experience the sense of gratitude? I say, YES!

To return to the beginning of this writing, while thanking God for the day and the chance to be alive for yet another day I asked myself, “what if there is no God and I am just saying words?” And then, this notion of the importance of taking time to be grateful came to me. And so, I began focusing on experiencing gratitude. If there is a God, he doesn’t need a chump like me to offer a “thanks.” Instead he would want me to experience the joy that accompanies taking time to appreciate what I have (life for another day).

A non-believer can also take time to appreciate being alive for another day. He can consider all the people who have walked the Earth before him and acknowledge that now is his time and that at some point soon, it will end. She can appreciate that although things may not be great that there are inevitably good things in her life and that simply spending a few moments focusing on these things, even if it’s just the ability to draw breath, can bring some peace of mind or even joy.

So, I encourage you, whatever your beliefs, to take a moment to experience the state of appreciating what you have today.

😊

Be well,

 Jim