Douglas, I'm so glad you wrote it exactly as you did. What a beautiful reminder of how important it is to reflect on gratitude. Your neighbor telling you he loves you got my right in the heart. The whole piece was wonderful and I'm grateful you took the time, energy, and care to write it. Thank you!
While I do agree that it is a great moment to feel thankful for the things you do have, I don't agree that experiencing negative feelings makes you an asshole... it makes you human. You probably offended no one by being upset over an event, at least nothing was mentioned, you just lost some sleep and were a bit grumpy. :)
This is really beautiful and I so appreciate the reminder to live my life this way - each breath, grace. Each bite of food, grace. The sun on my face? Grace.
And also, I want to offer this counter point. I think gratitude is something that can only be generated from within and modeled. Telling other people they should be grateful for what they have can be an asshole move. Especially people with wealth and power telling poor people to be grateful. That is usually an attempt to keep people "in their place" and prevent them from challenging the status quo that confers wealth and power only to the few.
It's okay to dream bigger and desire better for yourself. And its okay to be angry at the systems that are unfairly stacked against us. I personally think both can co-exist with gratitude.
I love your perspective Douglas. We in western society have won the birth lottery but we don’t know it. As they say, first world probs.
Yes, that's another way to put it, isn't it? My post would have been MUCH shorter ;) Thank you for reading!
Douglas, I'm so glad you wrote it exactly as you did. What a beautiful reminder of how important it is to reflect on gratitude. Your neighbor telling you he loves you got my right in the heart. The whole piece was wonderful and I'm grateful you took the time, energy, and care to write it. Thank you!
I loved this piece. Your reflections are a gift -- thank you for your perspective and taking the time to write it so beautifully. YES!
Sarah Selecky! I was thinking of you and Friendstival. I'm sorry to miss it!
While I do agree that it is a great moment to feel thankful for the things you do have, I don't agree that experiencing negative feelings makes you an asshole... it makes you human. You probably offended no one by being upset over an event, at least nothing was mentioned, you just lost some sleep and were a bit grumpy. :)
Maybe your car was totaled so you could donate a part of the money to Bob? 👀
I love it, Maggie! Thank you, I will.
Amazing, keep us posted! Those are the stories I would like to see more of ❤️
This got me thinking. Perhaps it’s a practice of both - being grateful while also recognizing/ not discounting one’s own experiences - not easy.
Thank you! And having a sense of humor about it.
This is really beautiful and I so appreciate the reminder to live my life this way - each breath, grace. Each bite of food, grace. The sun on my face? Grace.
And also, I want to offer this counter point. I think gratitude is something that can only be generated from within and modeled. Telling other people they should be grateful for what they have can be an asshole move. Especially people with wealth and power telling poor people to be grateful. That is usually an attempt to keep people "in their place" and prevent them from challenging the status quo that confers wealth and power only to the few.
It's okay to dream bigger and desire better for yourself. And its okay to be angry at the systems that are unfairly stacked against us. I personally think both can co-exist with gratitude.
Well said!