I am reading a book on gratitude by Robert Emmons – Gratitude Works. One chapter, though 100 pages into the book, caught my eye, so I read it first: The Biggest Obstacle to Gratitude – and Its Remedy. It seems odd to me that he would wait until five chapters in the book to share this, but then if I read the four chapters, it might make sense. In any event, it turns out that the biggest obstacle to gratitude is entitlement (ugh!), and the remedy for it is humility (ugh x 2). This paragraph from the book states it so well that I won’t try to improve on it:
“Gratitude is the recognition that live owes me nothing and all the good I have is a gift. It is a response to all that has been given. It is not a getting of what we may desire. My eyes are a gift. So is my wife, my clothes, my job, my every breath. This is a major shift. Recognizing that everything good in life is ultimately a gift is a fundamental truth of reality. Humility makes that recognition possible. The humble person says, ‘How can I not be filled with overflowing gratitude?”
Indeed, how can I not be filled with overflowing gratitude? Well, somehow, I seem to find a way. I’ll go back and start at the first chapter.
It occurs to me... 