Gratitude, To Whom?

[Yonkon]

I'm a bit confused with gratitde. I don't believe in a well meaning god so i don't know how i can be thankful for something. Should i feel gratitude for the thing itsef?

[Arman]

Gratitude is a kind of celebration of something. Imagine you have been stuck inside a freezing cottage for a whole winter and one day you finally have a heater. You would feel very grateful for that heater. Notice that gratitude is not inherent or automatic to a thing or circumstance though, because someone who may have always had heating may not express any gratitude towards it - so it's something you can choose.

Take for instance the chair you're sitting on - can you feel grateful for the fact that it's relatively comfortable and that you're not sitting on a stool? (And if you are sitting on a stool, can you be grateful for the function its serving and that you don't have to be sitting on the ground?)

Practice with small things. Gratitude is something that is consciously generated. It is a feeling of warmth, well-being, appreciation, celebration. 

[Nahm]

@Yonkon kinda screwed yourself outta the gate with that belief. Everything is filtered through that belief. It’s just a thought you keep repeating. Contemplate the source - where you picked that thought up. 

[Yonkon]

@Nahm Can you specify what you mean exactly? Do you talk about the belief that there is no well meaning god?

 

[Nahm]

@Yonkon yes. Assigning one’s own meaning to something else can make things tough. 

[eputkonen]

8 hours ago, Yonkon said:

I'm a bit confused with gratitde. I don't believe in a well meaning god so i don't know how i can be thankful for something. Should i feel gratitude for the thing itsef?

Maybe using the term "appreciation" would be more meaningful for you.

[Visionary]

8 hours ago, Arman said:

Gratitude is a kind of celebration of something. Imagine you have been stuck inside a freezing cottage for a whole winter and one day you finally have a heater. You would feel very grateful for that heater. Notice that gratitude is not inherent or automatic to a thing or circumstance though, because someone who may have always had heating may not express any gratitude towards it - so it's something you can choose.

Take for instance the chair you're sitting on - can you feel grateful for the fact that it's relatively comfortable and that you're not sitting on a stool? (And if you are sitting on a stool, can you be grateful for the function its serving and that you don't have to be sitting on the ground?)

Practice with small things. Gratitude is something that is consciously generated. It is a feeling of warmth, well-being, appreciation, celebration. 

Wonderful this. Best piece of advice i've seen in ages. Grateful

[YaNanNallari]

For me gratitude is enjoying the beauty of the current moment. There is also gratefulness for circumstances, but it feels less relevant and more like a reminder that I have way more things to be happy than upset about. A reminder that I can "change" things and the joy that comes with that.

[Torkys]

Agreeing with @Nahm, drop the fucking filter. Even if your god is the worst torturer, you have still experienced joy in your life. And that you can be grateful for. 

Spend more time being. This was an experience for me because I am not a grateful person. After meditating for 40 minutes and doing almost nothing for 80 minutes after that, I was shocked to see that I was grateful for this experience even just happening and almost cried. 

[Nahm]

I am grateful to know there is no God.