Gratitude & the Miracle of Life
There is a certain texture to the feeling of gratitude that transcends labels of happiness, joy, or love. Gratitude is classically defined as the recognition that something provides you value. Yet “value” feels insufficient to describe the quality of gratitude that makes the heart feel full.
We say “thank you” so casually and all too often: thank you for opening the door; thank you for picking up the check; thanks for visiting me. But this is just the surface of gratefulness, this powerful choice that can be felt deeper and deeper needing nothing more than presence and reflection. We can breathe and lose track of air. We can also pause and meditate into our breath towards the highest planes of Oneness and peace. So too can we pause and give thanks to the incredible beauty of every moment, to feel grateful for the gift of life. We can realize that every breath is a miracle… that the stars exploded into planets, that oceans evaporated into clouds, that reptiles evolved into mammals, that your grandparents bore your parents who cradled you in their arms, and that every tiny decision you have ever made has led you to this precious moment that is now.
Gratefulness, just like meditation, can be tread to the point of Enlightenment. It is when we realize that all of life is experienced in the present moment that we can feel grateful for all that is, was, and all that ever will be. Our memories are experienced now; and so are our projections of the future. When we release our attachments to the past and expectations of the future, we can enjoy and be in joy in the eternal glory of what it means to be human… what it means to be consciousness experiencing itself, right here, right now. We can know that every ounce of suffering we have ever felt had an equally powerful effect as every whisper of love or embrace of joy. All of it brought you to now.
This extraordinary, all-encompassing feeling of gratitude can be experienced within the release of pain as suffering. The Dalai Lama shared, “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” There is a point in one’s consciousness journey where we can realize that we have an attachment to suffering: that our ego craves shame, guilt, fear, grief, anger, and pride because they serve to confirm our egoic beliefs. Biochemically, these feelings release endorphins and serotonin; psychologically, they are protective mechanisms to safeguard us from imagined fears arising from traumatic upbringings; and spiritually, they create suffering so that we can muster the courage to say “Enough!” and take on the inner journey.
It is when we really understand that all pain has brought you to now, and that we have a choice to suffer or to smile, that we can finally release the aversion to pain, grief, and fear. We can instead embrace the totality of being because we Know that every stumble as well as every leap brings us to now, where we can experience presence in its defining beauty, where we can be grateful for who we are, all that we have become, and all that we are Becoming.
Today, thank yourself for being you. Thank life for letting you experience it. Happy Thanksgiving. We are so grateful to experience life with you.
Infinite gratitude for those that came before us. Infinite love for those that stand beside us. Infinite service for those that walk behind us.
