Gratitude

Make your bed. Write three pages. Meditate. Gratitude. Brush Your teeth. These are just some of the ways we’re told to begin our day.

Okay. The brushing your teeth one is a non-negotiable.

But, the others… Do they ever bore you?

Sometimes, I get bored by words that I know are intrinsic to the leveling up of my life. Gratitude. Mediation. Connecting. Breathing. Nutrition. Exercise. Pause. Enough already! Right?

Except. It’s kind of true.

If you get up, brush your teeth, read the paper and eat breakfast, go to work, eat dinner, watch Netflix and go to bed… well…I mean it’s a way to pass the time…but…

Before you know it, you’ve passed the time right into your grave. And, for what?

Okay. No biggie. I bet you’ll get another shot at it.

But, while we’re here. Maybe we should incorporate some practices that make our lives bigger.

Some of us think money elevates our lives. And, let’s face it. We need it. But, in and of itself, even with lots of money, aren’t those daily practices kind of the same, just in nicer stuff. We brush our teeth with a nicer toothbrush, eat a nicer bowl of oatmeal, drive a nicer car to work, eat a nicer (do we really?) dinner, and…well… you get it.

Okay, what else do we think? Notoriety? People in our community seeing that we’ve done well for ourselves?

So, again, what’s happening on the daily? I knew someone once who was convinced that stature – other people’s high opinions of her could fill the gaping hole she had inside. But, ultimately, she – like all of us – ends up going to bed, waking up, brushing our teeth…and the hole is there…waiting to be filled.

Why did I start this blog? It’s turned kind of a dark corner. All I really wanted to talk about was gratitude. I got off track.

I talked with someone a few weeks ago who thinks so much of gratitude that he is making it his life’s work. He is, not only starting his day with it, he’s using it as a tool to move closer toward the meaning of life – his life – maybe all life.

And, it’s a good place to start. Ultimately, meaning is probably even more important than joy. Life isn’t always going to be happy. But, it can always contain meaning. If we look for it. And, gratitude can be a kind of flashlight lighting up the path helping us to can find meaning.

Perhaps gratitude is a good starting point. It can come after brushing your teeth. But, maybe days that begin with gratitude are days that contain even more reasons for it.