Importance of Gratitude

    How to become more grateful, and why that will make you happier, healthier and more resilient


    How to become more grateful, and why that will make you happier, healthier and more resilient | CNN
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    Epicurean context (selections):


    VS17 It is not the young man who is most happy, but the old man who has lived beautifully; for despite being at his very peak the young man stumbles around as if he were of many minds, whereas the old man has settled into old age as if in a harbor, secure in his gratitude for the good things he was once unsure of.


    VS19 He who forgets the good things he had yesterday becomes an old man today.


    VS35 Don't ruin the things you have by wanting what you don't have, but realize that they too are things you once did wish for.


    VS55 Misfortune must be cured through gratitude for what has been lost and the knowledge that it is impossible to change what has happened.

    Thanks for this, Don. I came across this video a few years ago and loved its message. I realize it comes from a Christian monk so may be unacceptable here. But the message is exactly as you highlighted.


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    Spot on, EricR . Thank you for that. Ευχαριστώ.

    I would note, too, that there was no invocation of a supernatural god in that video. Just be grateful for the day and the experience of life and nature and our fellow human beings.


    Fragment 469. Praise be to blessed Nature: she has made what is necessary easy to get, and what is not easy to get unnecessary. χάρις τῇ μακαρίᾳ φύσει ὅτι τὰ ἀναγκαῖα ἐποίησεν εὐπόριστα, τὰ δὲ δυσπόριστα οὐκ ἀναγκαῖα.


    Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, χάρις

    Thanks, Don. My favourite sentiment in it is the idea that "today is the only day that is given to you...today." There is something so obvious about that. Yet so many allow pain in the form of anger, resentment, and hatred to dominate that simple fact. It is very sad.


    I personally am quite comfortable with a supernatural god being invoked if it draws someone's attention to gratitude. I don't know what may or may not lay beyond, but I do know that being grateful for my days promotes a happier time here. I realize that is anathema to this site, but I gotta be me! :)

    Quote from EricR

    I personally am quite comfortable with a supernatural god being invoked if it draws someone's attention to gratitude. I don't know what may or may not lay beyond, but I do know that being grateful for my days promotes a happier time here. I realize that is anathema to this site, but I gotta be me! :)

    I can understand where you're coming from on that, and Epicurean philosophy certainly makes room for "gods" as everyone knows from the long threads on this site. However, Steindl-Rast - a Christian monk - successfully demonstrates that we can be grateful without bringing in God/god.


    From my perspective, one danger of seeing a supernatural god/God as the recipient of gratitude sets up the possibility that thinking God/god can decide to take it away, to punish one for not being grateful to him/her. I think it's better to be grateful to "blessed Nature" or better other people and leave out the divine middleman.


    That said, of course, I respect your right for you to be you :)

    As I said, I'm comfortable with the idea. That does not mean I believe it. Only that I can understand its appeal and am comfortable with believers as long as they can be comfortable with me.


    Also, the word "God" has to be clarified since the Abrahamic version is only one way. It is one of the reasons I generally stay away from the topic other than asserting my ignorance.


    I have found that a genuine feeling of gratitude does not depend on knowing its source. Gratefulness is its own reward as it can neutralize poisons like resentment, envy, jealousy, etc. It has to be genuine though and only the individual can ever know whether it is or not.


    Thanks for the respect. If I wasn't being me, I'd be...? ^^

    Well said! Thanks for this.
    I especially like this...

    Quote from EricR

    I have found that a genuine feeling of gratitude does not depend on knowing its source. Gratefulness is its own reward as it can neutralize poisons like resentment, envy, jealousy, etc. It has to be genuine though and only the individual can ever know whether it is or not.