Gratitude Meditation I

Daily Meditation — 5/10/2022
Gratitude is a foundation element of YouDaimonia, supporting the four core principles typically meditated on.

You’re financially stable — perhaps even wealthy.
You have a spouse who loves you as well as ample friends in admiration.
You have an element of spirituality — perhaps a religion, perhaps simple meditation.
You eat well and stay active, tending to your body and, by extension, mind.

However, without gratitude, all of these are empty husks.

Being well off, adored, spiritual, and healthy are all forms of taking in one way or another.

Gratitude is where you give some back. It is how you acknowledge fragility and mortality.

Gratitude is an essential element of perception.

Gratitude is recognizing without your wealth — even if it’s only wealth in terms of having more than a homeless man — you cannot eat well.
Gratitude is understanding that if you cannot eat well, your physical form deteriorates and thus the mind follows.
Gratitude is knowing that if your mind has frayed, you will fail in your religion or in your meditations, distracted by the worldly issues.
Gratitude is know that in all these, without them — wealth, physical wellness, and spirituality — you may not have your loved ones.

Gratitude is the shadowing behind the figure of light, adding contrast and depth to the form, making us understand that without it, we do not know what we have in life.

And so, gratitude is a stone foundation upon which a Eudaimonic must build their life.

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These are distillations from my coming book “YouDaimonia: the Ancient Philosophy of Human Flourishing.”