Choosing Gratitude

If we can choose to build gratitude, what else can we choose to build?

Photo by Oscar Campbell on Unsplash

I just wanted to express some thanks today, and offer a little something to those of you who have given me the honor of joining me on this new writing adventure. When I launched I had no idea what would happen, and the thousands of folks who have chosen to subscribe, plus each person who has made the decision to pitch in monetarily so that I can write and provide these reflections for you, has been an unexpected and humbling gift. So, in gratitude, I wanted to offer something today to those of you supporting this little publication.

Growing up it never occurred to me that something like gratitude could be a skill. Nowadays, it seems like every year, around this time, somewhere between seven and twelve articles come out talking about practicing gratitude, and working on building gratitude and all that. And there’s plenty of truth to it. You can write gratitude lists for yourself, or be in a group chat with others working on building the spiritual muscle of gratitude, or simply give thanks as a form of prayer. All or any of these actions, if done consistently, will help build a sense of gratitude that lasts. It can help with relationships, keep things in perspective when the going gets rough, and ultimately help foster one of the things I think we’re all looking for, deep and profound contentment. But how do we keep the limits of this practice in perspective, and what can it teach us across intangible practices beyond gratitude itself?