Health, Gratitude, & The Problem Of Comparison

In today’s session we contemplate the quote, ‘If you wake up, and everyone you care about is healthy, it is a great day.’ From Gary Vaynerchuk, an American Entrepreneur, speaker, and author. This track is taken from my course, ‘Daily Contemplations For Living An Examined Life’, available now via my profile.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the session.

I invite you to take a seat or lay down and get yourself comfortable.

You can close down the eyes if you wish and take a deep slow breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.

And just gently begin to open your mind up to today's quote.

To contemplate the words with a free and open and subtle mind.

To welcome impossibility and expansion into growth and to allow yourself for the next few minutes to just sit and be with whatever arises.

In a moment I'm going to share with you a quote to contemplate and then we'll just sit in silence for a minute and let it percolate and then we'll talk about that quote and see where the discussion leads us.

Today's quote comes from Gary Vaynerchuk,

An American entrepreneur,

Speaker and author.

And it goes,

If you wake up and everyone you care about is healthy,

It is a great day.

If you wake up and everyone you care about is healthy,

It is a great day.

So this quote speaks to a few things,

But namely gratitude and craving or desire.

It is all too easy to want more than what we've got,

To crave after things,

To see other people and want what they've got,

The car,

The partner,

The house,

The lifestyle,

The job,

The stuff.

Whilst everything is going well,

There is a real risk that we will lose ourselves to that desire,

To that craving.

Because really,

When things are going well,

We're sort of primed to want more.

That's the evolutionary bias that we all find ourselves in.

It wasn't evolutionary beneficial to sit and just enjoy what we've got.

No,

We are programmed to always be striving for more.

Because who knows when the next downturn will come.

But this quote,

Asking us to consider that if everyone we care about is healthy,

That's a great day,

Really strips it back to the core of what most people will actually value.

How much do you really care about your new watch,

Your car,

Your title,

If your child is sick,

If your partner,

Your mother,

People,

Friends,

Family are unwell.

Health comes and goes,

Of course.

And if you're going through a time in which the people around you or yourself are struggling through a health crisis,

You very quickly start to reprioritize what actually matters.

But unfortunately,

When you heal,

You quickly forget that that was a major concern,

And the gratitude just sort of drops away.

Indeed,

This quote sort of leans on the idiom,

You only know what you've got once it's gone.

Because once health disappears,

You start to see just how vital it was to every other aspect of your life.

And modern society is not a great conduit or encourager of this sort of gratitude practice.

Social media,

The internet,

And just the fast-paced nature of our society leans into the idea of more,

Bigger,

Better.

Leans into the idea of comparison.

We see ourselves and we can compare ourselves to the world simultaneously.

But the problem is,

Is that we can never meet all of those comparisons all at once.

I cannot be the best looking,

The wealthiest,

The most traveled person with the most free time,

And also be pursuing my dreams of writing a book and playing an instrument,

And insert insert every other point of comparison that I could make.

Life just doesn't work like that.

But if we go online,

We can easily see other people with quote-unquote better or more,

Down each and every one of those aspects.

But the problem is,

Is we compare the totality of our life with the one aspect that we see ourselves being beaten at,

And then we bring ourselves down.

But that's not a fair comparison,

Because we don't see the totality of the lives that we're comparing ourselves to,

And thus we are destined to always lose that comparison,

And always feel the shame,

Embarrassment,

Desire,

Negative feelings that such a comparison inevitably brings.

Why?

Because you'll always be losing that comparison.

But if you wake up,

And practice the gratitude of health,

You start to see that that is what truly matters.

The health and happiness of those close to you,

That is in fact your world.

That is in fact who you interact with on a daily basis,

Those people who you talk to,

Who you connect with,

Those that you love,

That you have close,

Intimate moments with,

Those that you love,

That you have close,

Intimate friendships with,

They're the people that matter.

And if one of those people are not happy,

If one of those people are not healthy,

If one of those people are struggling,

Then you start to see just how important the unseen status quo really is.

This isn't to say that you shouldn't aim for more,

Or for growth,

Or for change,

But it is to suggest that we all take at least a moment every day to acknowledge the status quo that we do have,

The health and happiness of our family,

The people we care about,

Because it won't always be like that.

The reality of life is that sometimes we get sick,

We get sick,

We most certainly all grow old,

And every one of us will pass.

I suppose this extends to your pets as well.

But if you're in a state where everyone and everything in your inner world is fine,

That is something to be tremendously grateful for,

And to celebrate,

Because that is not a true thing for everyone,

Or for most anyone.

And even if not everyone is in that place,

There are aspects to it,

There are people in your life that will be happy and healthy,

And you should be grateful,

And have gratitude for that fact.

And indeed for yourself,

If you are lucky enough to be physically healthy,

A little bit of gratitude of what you actually have will go a long way to feeling and embodying what you've got.

Because here's the thing,

If you don't sit in that place of gratitude,

You will be forsaking the benefit of the happiness and the health that you do currently have,

Because it won't last forever.

And when it does,

You'll look back on these times with desire,

With a craving,

But also with a subtle sadness for not fully embodying,

Living,

Being grateful for,

And just luxuriating in the fact that that you and everyone you care about is healthy,

Because that truly is a great day.

So let's just sit for another minute in gratitude of those people in our life that are healthy,

Because if we wake up and everyone we care about is healthy,

It is a great day.

So,

Well done.

This brings us to the end of the session.

At the bottom of your screen,

You'll see the option to view the classroom,

Or to ask a question.

And before moving on,

I invite you to take a moment to click through and share your insights,

To read the answers from other students,

And to hear my replies.

Remember to start your responses with Gary Vaynerchuk,

Or to restate the quote,

Health,

So we all know which one you are referring to.

This is an opportunity for deep learning,

Further introspection,

And insight,

So please don't miss out.

I look forward to seeing you in the next session.

Thank you.

This track was taken from my course,

Daily Contemplations for Living an Examined Life.

It's out now on Insight Timer and available via my profile.

I invite you to join in.