Friday, November 23, 2007

Gratitude

Gratitude is the antidote to desire. While desire sees lack, gratitude sees abundance. Desiring is a subtle way of complaining about what is, while gratitude is rejoicing in what is. These are very different states of consciousness. Which state would you prefer to live in? You always have a choice. Desiring is our default position, so it takes awareness and willingness to be grateful rather than to desire something different. It is so easy to desire—too easy. It is much more difficult to find the place of gratitude and stay there because, for one thing, it means we have much less to do!

If we didn’t have our desires to run after, what would we do? If we were satisfied with life as it is, what would we do? The ego considers contentment dangerous because it equates it with being lazy, and that is the message it will give you to try to move you out of the place of gratitude. The ego can’t exist in this place. It is defunct, useless, out of a job. It loses all significance.

For this reason, gratitude can change your life. It can change what you do and how you do things. Who would think that something so simple as gratitude could be so powerful? The ego’s existence is built around steering us away from this amazing force, which is at the core of our being. Gratitude is the ongoing experience of essence, and it is powerfully transformative. It can transform us from an unhappy person to a happy one, from a selfish person to a loving one, and from a restless person to a peaceful one. It turns out that gratitude feels much better than desiring. It is a much better choice, but not necessarily an easier one.

By Gina Lake

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