Be Grateful to Everyone

Gratitude does not seem to be that front and central nowadays. Instead of appreciating what we have, we keep focusing on what we do not have. We are filled with grudges and resentments and have strong opinions about what we deserve and what is our due. We may be taught to say “Please” and “Thank you,” but what have we been taught about appreciation? In our commodified world, we see things as material for our consumption. We don’t ask, we just take. And in the blindness of our wealth and privilege, we don’t see how much we have to be grateful for. We take all that we have for granted and we live in a very ungrateful world... I think we need to work on our basic gratitude, first. Simply adding this dimension to the way we view things would be a great improvement.

- Judy Lief, "Train Your Mind: Be Grateful to Everyone"

Received as Daily Dharma from Tricycle.com on the 25th of December 2010

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And gratitude takes practice. We started a gratitude practice in our family a while back now: at every meal we all hold hands and each share something we are grateful for. We usually eat together at the table and this helps us to slow down and connect, it helps our time together and our eating to be more mindful. Sometimes we are grateful for the food, sometimes for each other, sometimes for something planned but yet to happen, after a little practice it's easy to find something to be grateful for. After all, the very fact that we can sit together and share a meal means we that have so very much to be grateful for.