Saturday, October 28, 2023
Your gratitude journal is 50%. It doesn’t tell the whole truth. What about that health scare? What about the loss of your best friend, dying too young? What about that tyrannical boss, that enslaving job you’re stuck in, or that insidious colleague? What about climate change, wealth inequality, racism, and poverty? Do those fit on a gratitude list?
What about cancer? In a roundabout way, hiding in the hypocrisy of how dreadful cancer is, is a grateful oncologist who makes a cushy living working in a prestigious treatment center. What about the pain of divorce? In a roundabout way, hiding in the pain of divorce are attorneys who live like kings on the ill-fate of wedded bliss gone wrong. What about mental health deterioration, spiritual ignorance, or inner struggles? On the flip side of that are people like me who have found a purpose to help others with healing words and counseling.
Your ideal life is only half. If it’s ideal, then you’ve already thought of it, and when you get it, it’s as if you’ve already had it. Reality also consists of that which throws us for a loop, and exposes us to the vastness of the unknowns. It’s like the grain in wood. It’s “random,” wiggly, knotted, and unpredictable. It’s not aligned perfectly; but the so-called imperfections are what make it uniquely valuable, precious, and without aesthetic mistake. What would you rather have, the “ideal life” with all the things you’ve already thought of, or could you leave room for surprises and struggles that make you wiser, stronger, and more spiritually awakened? I’m not inviting suffering into our gratitude journals, but we must give it a wink and a nod. What you’re seemingly ungrateful for – kinks, wrinkles, surprises, letdowns, and troubles – give you the whole picture. When you see from both the over and underside, even the nightmares make “perfect” sense. To be grateful, include everything.