Want to Be Happier? Have Gratitude!Remember, All Those Things You Take for GrantedCan Be Taken Away in An Instant

"Have Gratitude!" This must be one of the most over-used maxims of our time. It grew out of the psycho-spiritual movements of the 1960s and 70s and presumed that having gratitude would demonstrate to whatever higher power you believed in, that you were deserving of good fortune, because you appreciated even the tiniest blessing. And as humans are prone to do, some took it way too far: hugging trees, blessing the sky, asking for guidance from invisible spirits somehow living in rocks.

But as I point out some of the ridiculous excesses of that time, I also wish to highlight that there is a deep truth embodied in the concept of gratitude, which we would all do well to embrace. 

Those New Age beliefs arose from a resurgence of interest in ancient pagan worship and rituals, which held that our lives were indeed governed by unseen forces residing in the sun, the moon, the sky, fire, animal spirits, even the seasons. These forces were imbued with human emotions and as such, when they were angry, extreme measures were necessary to calm them down. Human and animal sacrifices were often the method preferred to appease these gods, so that they would continue providing the basic needs that we have now come to take for granted. 

 

In our industrialized, automated world, we have now become insulated from many of those natural and necessary processes that support our existence. Water, food, heat and comfort, light, and an endless array of products, are dispensed effortlessly. The idea of having to survive without these things, never crosses our minds, until economic collapse or natural disaster strikes and suddenly, we are thrust back into the reality that the provision of even our most basic needs can suddenly be taken away, leaving us shivering like a leaf and vulnerable to the whim of the elements.

The entire short lives of ancient men and women were consumed by providing for just these basic needs. A good day was when there was a reliable source of water, plenty of food, everyone was healthy and they weren't being attacked by a neighboring tribe. Today, with these basic needs (and much more), already provided from cradle to grave, we now expect far more from our lives than to merely survive. We no longer are content to just be healthy,  now we demand to look and feel like gods, we have forgotten to be grateful that we can still walk, now, we must own a shining chariot, with music, air conditioning and seat warmers, standard. Instead of cooking over a fire, as our ancestors did, we now have gourmet kitchens and refrigerators. Not merely candles, but electric lights, instead of a hole in the ground, there are now flush toilets, pillow top mattresses have replaced animal skins. Can you imagine a cave man sitting in a reclining chair with a shiatsu massager?  

I am not saying that we should go back to the dark ages, or that we should eschew any of the comforts that our modern day lives now provide us. But, it is important to remember that it can all be taken away in an instant by fire, flood, earthquake, a financial crisis or health emergency . We should never take even the most basic blessing for granted.

Always keep in mind what a good day was and still is: sufficient, clean water, good food, health and freedom from violence. As long as you have these basic needs met, don't spoil the fact that you're already better off than 2/3 of today's world population by fretting over a broken nail or that you're not as popular as you'd like to be.

Conclusion: Have gratitude for what you do have and be happy knowing that because of those things, you will live to see an even better day.

 

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S.E. Mathias