The concept of happiness as an achievable goal, something we can deliberately cultivate through practice and effort, is fundamental to the Buddhist view of happiness. One way to foster happiness is to practice gratitude by bringing the qualities of love and appreciation to life.
We’ve all been taught to “be grateful” for any number of things: the air in our lungs, the food on our tables, our good health; but the truth is we tend to take these things for granted and focus on complaining and comparing.
I touched on this back in December in my post: “Increasing the Happiness Baseline” when I wrote:
Our feelings of contentment are strongly influenced by our tendency to compare. We compare our current situations to past situations, we compare ourselves to others, our current salary to what we think having a larger one would be like. Constant comparison with those who we think are smarter, thinner, or wealthier breeds envy, frustration and unhappiness. But we can use this principle in a positive way and increase our feeling of life satisfaction by comparing ourselves to those who are less fortunate than us and by reflecting on all the things we have.
In times of joy, this is simple. After buying a new car it’s easy to be grateful for your job that compensated you well enough to purchase a new car. When you’re laughing with your family, it’s easy to stop and think, “wow, I am so grateful for my amazing family.” When you feel well, it’s easy to be grateful for your good health.
But what about when things aren’t so great? What about when your car is broken down and you have no money for repairs, you hate your job, your family is fighting, and you have painful arthritis? Expressing gratitude isn’t so simple. It takes effort.
This is where comparing yourself to those less fortunate can be skillful. You might then be able to express gratitude for at least having a car, job and family, and remembering that there are worse conditions than arthritis.
Phillip Moffitt, founder of the Life Balance Institute and Buddhist meditation teacher, wrote for Dharma Wisdom that “gratitude is the sweetest of all the practices for living the dharma in daily life and the most easily cultivated, requiring the least sacrifice for what is gained in return.”
It only takes a moment to express gratitude, but the benefits are long-lasting. Moffitt continues:
Cultivating thankfulness for being part of life blossoms into a feeling of being blessed, not in the sense of winning the lottery, but in a more refined appreciation for the interdependent nature of life. It also elicits feelings of generosity, which create further joy. Gratitude can soften a heart that has become too guarded, and it builds the capacity for forgiveness, which creates the clarity of mind that is ideal for spiritual development.
I can personally speak to gratitude’s ability to foster forgiveness. Since I started making it a part of my daily practice, I am more forgiving of people, including myself, and situations. I bounce back from frustration much quicker. Train delayed? Well, at least it got me to work safely. Mom pissed me off? Well, I could have lost her to breast cancer many years ago. I’m grateful she is still around to piss me off. I overindulged and ate foods that don’t love me? At least I recognize that and I’m no longer beating myself up, caught in a vicious self-destructive cycle of shame and regret. Things can be worse.
There is an opportunity to express appreciation in every situation. No matter what. At the very least, you are still alive, and that is huge. At the very least, there is an opportunity to learn, and that is significant. Still stumped to find something you are grateful for? Then be grateful that you are trying. It’s not always easy.
It takes upwards of 21 days to create a habit. Expressing gratitude is called a practice because it literally takes effort to train your mind to begin to think this way.
Thankfully, I know of a place where you can practice. That place is the Facebook group: Appreciation Destination, a public group created by my dear friend after a meeting at the Buddhist Sangha of South Jersey where the moderator that evening, David Clark, asked that we all share something we are grateful for. Every day, members publicly share three things they are grateful for. If you are interested in strengthening your appreciation muscle, join our group, share, or at least read what others are grateful for. You may see that most of it resonates with you, and begin to identify more areas of your life for which you feel grateful.
Gratitude is an important part of my daily practice. If we actively focus on the positive aspects of our life, we tend to be happier and more compassionate. If you are interested in sharing your gratitude, being uplifted, and maybe even inspired by the gratitude of others, I would recommend checking out this group. – David Clark
I hope to see you there.