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Today's
Meditation:
When
life seems difficult, when troubles seem to keep piling
up, when we can't seem to get ahead, this seems to be a
very difficult task, indeed. To be thankful for this
life that's so difficult and trying-- what's with
that? When we look around at other people who don't
seem to have any problems at all, who seem to have plenty
of money and love in their lives so that they don't have
to worry about the things we have to worry about, then
just how are we supposed to be thankful for being born
into the situation that we're in?
At the very least, Daphne doesn't say that it's easy to do
this. She also doesn't say that we should be
thankful for our problems (though they do give us great
lessons). She says to be thankful for life, for the
chance to live in this world full of amazing people and
sights and sounds and trees and animals and things to
do. She says to be thankful for this amazing body
that does some pretty amazing things, for the opportunity
to live and breathe and exercise and rest and just
be. For it's that very gratitude that helps us to
build up the resilience that will help us to get through
the hard times, through the challenges and difficulties.
When we have an attitude of gratitude, then we're able to
see our lives from a healthy perspective. We're able
to recognize and appreciate the gifts that we have, and
weigh them accurately against the problems (instead of the
problems gaining much more importance than they deserve,
and us making the mountains out of the molehills).
She asks us not to be grateful for what we have, but just
for being here in the first place. And isn't that
the best place to start, really? Isn't that the
gratitude that will allow us to feel all the other
gratitude? After all, the most important beginning
to all the good that we have is the fact that we're here
in the first place, and when we recognize that and feel
the true gratitude for that, then we can finally open the
doors to all the other goods in life that are just waiting
to be a part of our particular lives.
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