Gratitude

One of the most important parts of a Spiritual Path is gratitude. Because if you are not grateful for whatever you have now, how do you expect to get more than you already have?

This might sound trite but it is also true, "Gratitude is the motor of life".

Imagine your gratitude is an engine in your car and you need to get from California to New York (Or either way (or from Florida to Seattle) either way for whatever the reason.

IF you want to go there and aren't grateful for what you have already, you are not going to get wherever you are going to.

If you ask me why this is I cannot really tell you. However, I have observed this scientifically throughout my life.

I have a friend for example, that all he would say if you asked him how he was in the last year was something like "Well. I suppose it could be worse but I don't know how?"

Though I understood what he was talking about he has a nice car and owns 1/2 his own house from her parents (his sister owns the other half) and he is unhappy with some of the investments he made the last few years. However, to always lead with being unhappy is only bringing more unhappiness into his life. I'm not sure he sees this.

However, intellectually he is one of the most intelligent people I know. So, what's wrong with this picture? I cannot really say except maybe he didn't expect to be living the life he is living right now and being single.

However, he has also been one of the most important people in my wife and my life for around 20 years and has been very supportive of our relationship and we tried to fix him up with at least 20 female friends of ours to no avail. So, is the problem being single? Is the problem his parents died?

Is the problem something we don't know about?

However, not being grateful for what you do have: Life, car, property, that is paid for I believe isn't really good. Even if your life isn't what you thought it was going to be that isn't good enough.

Only 1/3 of people on earth consider themselves happy by the way. So, that means 2/3 of people are sort of miserable on any given day.

And even I might say my 20s and my 40s were pretty miserable at times. However, since 50 my life has been pretty good so I stay alive for the good times. Will it always be this way? I don't know. I do what I can for myself and everyone I know so they choose to stay alive and try to be happy too.

So, in the end what is the motor of life?

Gratitude and Joy are the motor of life.

So, try to figure out how to generate both Gratitude and joy for what you have rather than be constantly complaining about what you don't have.

By focusing on the good things in your life naturally more good things tend to come to you. If you insist upon focusing only on the bad things in your life more bad things will come to you.

This is how life works and it is  actually scientific.

Why is this?

Probably because no one wants to be around someone who is complaining all the time. They don't want to be your friend, they don't want to hire you for a job, they don't want to know you or live next to you.

So, complaining is one way to end your business life, your social life until all you have left to do is to commit suicide and then you are out of your body moaning and making life difficult for those who haven't died yet.

And that's just the road to hell.

So be grateful and find the joy in life so you don't have to go to hell.

This appears to be somewhat scientific for some reason or other.

I cannot explain it but it is the way things actually work here on earth and beyond.