July 14th

Gratitude


When you drink water,
Remember its source.

If your spiritual understanding is sound, then you will constantly be aware of the subtleties of life. If you fritter away your concentration on minor entertainment and trivial distractions, then you will never attain a profound level of awareness.It is not the grand sweeping religious celebrations and heroic moments in life that are the only important spiritual occasions. Every ordinary moment, every little detail should be a celebration of your personal understanding. Your smallest act should be permeated with reverence.
One of our most basic acts is drinking water. Without it, we could not sustain ourselves. Water cleanses us, cools us, and is an essential component of most of our biological processes. But when we drink it, are we aware of what it does? Do we think of its source and all the efforts that make it possible for us to have this simple glass of water?
Being spiritual means not taking things for granted. Quite the opposite, you remember how everything that comes to you fits into an overall scheme. You acknowledge the precious quality of everyday things. An you maintain a gratitude for both the good and the bad in your life.

Personal Interpretation

Many of us take some of the most wondrous things in life for granted. We should work to correct this tendency in ourselves. Spiritual understanding often comes in burst, and the smallest acts sometimes have the greatest potential to make us see things in a whole new light. Take the act of drinking water for instance. Many processes have to take place before that water reaches us. When we stop and reflect for a moment, we come to recognize how incredible its journey truly is. Our journey is no less incredible, and it is the moments in between life's more memorable occasions that afford the greatest look into our souls. Let us have an attitude of gratitude in our lives, for both the good and the bad. The darker times make the better ones shine all the brighter, and cause us to appreciate what is in our lives.  If we are having difficulty understanding how beautiful our lives truly are, it would perhaps benefit us to get out into the world a bit more, witness those whose suffering exceeds our own. Perspective is everything. And with a greater sense of perspective should come the desire to alleviate pain. Compassion should be our default response.