When a person normally thinks of "gratitude", they tend to have a pre-existing framework. It goes something like, "I am grateful for having 'x', since without it, I would be more like 'y'". In many times in life, I found myself thinking this way; comparing myself to others or even to myself in the past. But what isn't often explored is how one's life can be a source of gratitude.
Where does this life "gratitude" arise, and how? I believe it's when a person is no longer conditionally attached to the things in life. For example, when I strip away the layers of all the things I was expected to "have" by the time I reach 45 (degrees, status, promotions, education and so on), what is left is a sense that this life is so unique and cannot be repeated. It is really a timeless experience because there is no "other time" that supplants or replaces the time that is unfolding now. This is a kind of beholding of the miraculous. Is this an easy realization to have? I have hardly had such a realization, but this morning I did tell myself that there are so many good things flowing into and out of my existence, and it has nothing to do with a future that "never happened yet". These moments help me to affirm that there is always a reason to feel okay, even when things aren't necessarily okay around or within ourselves.
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