Gratitude without Comparison
Our society seems to push gratitude in a context of comparison: Thank you for my health (that I'm not sick like that person over there) Thank you for my family (that I'm not alone like that person) Thank you for my home (that I'm not like that homeless person there) Thank you for food to eat (that I'm not starving like those children in Africa) We see others that we judge to be less fortunate than us and use that as an opportunity to feel grateful. What happens though, when your world falls apart and you find fewer and fewer people fall into that "less fortunate" category? How do you still find gratitude in your heart when your world is crumbling apart? How does Job find gratefulness in the absence of health, family, and material possessions? Perhaps we need a mind shift away from the "I'm so thankful I'm not like that person" to a place of genuine gratitude for the good and the bad and the way those together have formed our life....