Gratitude Meditation XVIII

Daily Meditation 561–9/9/2023

Donkey voice “I like this bathroom. That is a *nice* bathroom…”

When you ask someone “What are you grateful for today?” isn’t it interesting how there seems to always be the

Blank stare.
“Uhhhhh…”
Ponderous look.
Long pause.

“Huh, I-I guess I dunno…! It’s a nice day out…?”

Or some derivative.

And it’s okay — gratitude is a skill one must gradually cultivate an awareness of. It doesn’t seem to come naturally.

I’ve found over the years it’s very helpful to break something you enjoy down into all the little components required “just for you.”

I really enjoy a good shower after a great workout. And, oftentimes, I’ll say prayers of gratitude while I scrub.

It might look like this:

Lord God, I’m so grateful for this shower.

For the hot water.
For the clean, sanitized copper pipes that carry the hot water.
For the fact I turn a knob, wait 30 seconds and there’s near instant water of whatever temperature I want.
I’m grateful that the water is filtered and clean — I can scrub with it or drink it.
For the marvels of city sewage and plumbing that makes it all happen, affordably (for how incredible it is).
For the fact I own the hot water heater which does its job day and night without failing (and has for the 30 years it’s been in the basement, which is incredible).
For the gift of the electricity that enables the pumping of the water, or the fan to suck the steam out.
For the fact there’s a mirror with which to groom myself — and that I live in a civilized time where I’m fed enough, healthy enough, and employed to require grooming.
I’m very grateful for the gift of the soap.
And for the various dozens of places the various dozens of ingredients needed to make the lovely smelling soap — and the gift of that scale of trade.

In short — you’ve got more to be grateful for than you can imagine just by breaking down all the many infinitesimal constituent pieces of something you love.

What are you grateful for, today?

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