For centuries, countless techniques, methods and tenets have emerged, all claiming to guide towards a better, happier life. Perhaps the early ones did not quite work, prompting various speakers, gurus and intellectuals to repackage them with a ‘new and improved’ version to keep the masses enslaved to them! Honestly there is no wreath of them around and quite frankly, I do not understand why there are so many in the first place!!
The new happy technique given by the so-called Self-Help Gurus is called – ‘Gratitude’.
In all righteous, it is not fair to blame society’s well-wishers for offering such modicum of half-truths as vast majority seeks a happier place in the most convenient way possible – even if that path is a disingenuous one paved with falsehood. As long it is aligned with their belief system, efficacy of the method is never really examined and honestly, practise of Gratitude plays gravely with one’s belief system, as it keeps God at its very centre.
Practising gratitude revolves around the idea that one must be thankful to God or a higher power and abundance shall follow – more happiness, more wealth, healthier relationships, or one shall simply attract more blessing coming their way. It is just same old wishing well dressed up in different costume. Has expressing gratitude truly brought the peace one seeks? Has it strengthened the relationships as desired? Stilled the restless minds? The answer, it seems, is largely No.
In our society, there will always be someone who has more than us and someone who has less than us — whether in wealth, status, qualities or even opportunities. Truth is, the affluent practise gratitude to soothe the guilt of having more than others and impoverished, practise gratitude to harmonize with the guilt of having less than others. In end, it is all an Ego driven exercise to pacify the Self, rather than a genuine path to contentment.
If you feel genuine gratitude towards the trees, rivers, the sun, or the universe, by all means be grateful but to see Gratitude as an elixir which shall take away your problems is just being nescient. If thankfulness arises naturally towards family, friends or God, without any attachment of need, then by all means express it and let it flow freely in all directions. However, if gratitude is practiced as a method to gain something out of it, then one is far from TRUTH.
Is a mango tree more grateful than a grapefruit tree for its sweetness? Does a rose feel more thankful than a sunflower for its fragrance? Nature simply is—each form expressing itself without comparison, without gratitude as a strategy.
Keeping an hourly, daily, or weekly gratitude journal may offer temporary relief or comforts for some, but it lacks the depth and necessary steam to lead one to the peaceful place he has longed for.
Instead, a sincere, deep examination of the problems holds the potential to reveal the missing links on the journey toward peaceful living and contentment.
