You've likely heard this before.
Be grateful for what you have because there are other people who have less.
Sounds normal.
If you're watching this from a smartphone,
You likely have so much more than so many people in the world.
But.
.
.
Is practicing gratitude in relationship to another the best form of gratitude?
As a rule.
Comparison is rarely a healthy thing to engage in.
And when we do it in gratitude,
What we're actually practicing is guiltitude.
We are consciously or subconsciously guilting ourselves to feel grateful.
Like,
Oh,
I should feel grateful.
Gratitude is not an obligation.
No one should feel anything.
They should feel what they feel.
And you saw this happening in the pandemic when people that had jobs that they didn't like their jobs,
But they were like,
Well,
I should feel grateful for my job because so many people are losing theirs.
All the while they're stressed,
They're depressed.
They don't actually feel grateful.
They feel something else.
And so often gratitude can be used almost as a way that we repress our true feelings.
We're like,
Well,
No,
No,
That's not allowed.
I should feel grateful.
And yes,
Of course,
There's ways that we can connect with a sense of gratitude in times when we realize,
Yes,
We do have a lot,
But it should never be a way to bypass how we actually feel.
Because everything is so subjective and related.
We might have a lot of money.
And we might be depressed.
And that person that has a lot of money and is depressed might say,
Well,
You should be grateful you have so much.
Look at that person in this country,
They have nothing.
We have no idea how that person who has nothing actually feels.
That person might be free and happy and joyful,
And that doesn't take away from someone who has a lot experience.
This is really understanding that we gotta honor our experience.
And not use gratitude to guilt ourselves into feeling something else,
To actually go into what we're feeling.
And so there's so much power in being grateful,
Full stop.
No comparison.
I'm so grateful.
For this opportunity to share with you.
I'm so grateful for my healthy family.
I'm so grateful for the material things,
The place that I live.
Whatever it is for you,
Just feeling the full essence of gratitude.
Without any sort of comparison game.
It's so much more powerful.
If you're gonna compare it,
Compare your gratitude to yourself.
I had a time where I had a lot of insomnia.
I went through a whole period,
Like a year and a half of insomnia.
And so now,
Because I had that experience of not sleeping,
When I'm going through having good sleep.
I have so much gratitude for it because I know what it feels like to not have.
And so.
.
.
Compare your gratitude to yourself.
Do obviously whatever you can for the people that are in need,
But don't use it as a way,
Don't use it to should yourself.
Don't think gratitude is an obligation.
Don't fall into guiltitude.
Be grateful from the essence of who you are because we have this beautiful opportunity to relish in the mystery and the magic of the world.
And yes,
That is something to be grateful for.
If you feel grateful for it.
I'd love to hear how this landed in the comments.
Thanks for watching,
And I look forward to connecting with you again soon.
