Gratitude? No Thank You!

A ll your life, you use the words Thank You. Right from childhood, you are taught to say Thank You. By the time we grow into adults, it has become a part of us. We use the words mechanically, in a businesslike way. The words Thank You rarely carry the emotion that they are supposed to: gratitude. In fact, we base our whole life on the opposite emotion: expectation. In our relationships, we demand love. In society, we demand attention. From ourselves, we demand better and better performance. And from God, we demand everything that no one else can give us! We keep on asking, demanding – without giving thanks for what we already have.

Gratitude is not some kind of morality that is imposed upon you. It is a basic principle for your own happiness! As long as you keep wanting, you are under the control of external events. When you live in gratitude, no one or nothing else can touch your happiness.

When you live with expectations, there is bound to be a gap between your expectations and their fulfillment. The moment one desire is satisfied, ten more will spring up. Of course, in everyone's life, there will be some ups and downs. There will always be some unfulfilled desires. It is natural. As they say, it's simply a questions of whether you choose to see the glass as half full or half empty!

As long as you focus on what you don't have, you will sense a vacuum in your life. The words, "I want…" is like a black hole. It is sure to swallow up whatever you already have in your life, and leave you feeling empty.