Gratitude

Sometimes when gratitude appears, it is familiar and expected, like how we feel when we take off a heavy backpack at the end of a long day’s walk.

At other times gratitude feels both familiar and surprising at the same time, such as when, towards the end of a long dark winter, the warm sunshine might suddenly break through, triggering a release of the fragrance of hyacinths and jonquils.

Then there are times when gratitude comes as a total surprise, such as when an old friend, whom we haven’t seen for many years, unexpectedly arrives for a visit.

However it manifests, a sense of gratitude is always welcome.

Gratitude nurtures hope:
not hope of the naive kind, as we have discussed,
but of the kind that conduces to insight,
of the kind that teaches us that,
whatever is happening – be it agreeable or disagreeable –
every moment is always new,
even if we feel or think otherwise:
every moment is a new opportunity
to learn how to let go and trust in that which is,
and always has been,
simply true.

Thank you.

This reflection by Ajahn Munindo is from the book, In Any Given Moment, (pdf) pp. 492-493.