At this time of year, with the golden leaves falling and the first mornings of frost-bitten grass, we are reminded by society and our culture to be grateful and thankful for all we have. I may be wrong in my assumption but I think most of us equate being thankful with the "good" things in our life, such as our family, friends, the roof over our head, the food on our plate, our secure (or not) job, etc...
This definition of gratitude comes from a western philosophy because as I reflect on eastern religions and philosophies I discover the concept of having gratitude for all things that come into your life - those "good" and "bad", as we label them here in the west. On first contemplation of this idea of being grateful, thankful, for the "bad" things in my life, I notice my mind take up great resistance to this idea. It is almost unimagineable to consider these so-called "bad" events, emotions as anything but that - bad, negative, unfortuneate, and unwelcome. But as I ponder more and more these eastern teachings I begin to take away my labels of "good" and "bad" and notice a common theme. I notice a theme of challenge, perserverance, strength, and growth with all the struggles or "bad" things that life brings. I think of all the gifts those so-called negative events have brought and realize they truly make us who we are today; a combination of all the reflection, learning, and growth that allows us to evolve.
I also notice the dualistic nature of our world. Without negative there is no positive; we are either with or without. And that because of the very dynamic, changing nauture of the world, one moment we can be with and the next... without. Do we only learn gratitude for things in our lives if we have once lost them? Meaning we were once with and now we are without. Without this dualistic nature, there is no change, no reflection, no gratitude.
So this Thanksgiving I'm challenging myself and everyone who wishes, to have gratitude for all things that life brings them. To shift their paradigm on life to bring an attitude of peace, gentle curiosity, and compassion to all things in their life. With every challenge in life, to ask oneself, "what can I learn from this?", and then to embrace it with gratitude. I believe that only if we, as a society, make this paradigm shift, can we evolve. There is no changing the nature of our world, there is only changing perspective of it.
