Contrast and Gratitude
I
How do we develop gratitude?
With contrast.
Gratitude is difficult to fully grasp without contrast. Contrast provides perspective. The starker the contrast, the deeper we understand gratitude.
When we are thrust from our mountaintop and tumble uncontrollably down into the valley below, then we understand.
The higher our fall,
the longer our time in the valley,
the deeper the lesson.
When we finally crash onto the bottom, scarred and broken. Alone in the empty and quiet darkness. When the black we see is darker than the inside of our eyelids. When the silence is deafening.
When we are left to accept our fragility, give up hope of rescue, and contend only with our mind. When, without alternative, we are forced to search for strength where we never looked before. To rely on it to climb out of the valley. Then, fail in our attempts.
And, when ultimately, a sharp beam of light pierces our eyes, calling us forward. When we claw our way out, bathed in the blinding light, trembling and exhausted. When, overwhelmed, we collapse to our knees like a puppeteer letting go of the strings. When we finally let go of ourselves and rejoice at the second chance we have been granted, then we understand.
The valley reveals what we are and what we are not.
Your fall from grace diminishes you. It reduces you to reveal that you are nothing.
And, when you are lifted from the depth of the valley, you are also bestowed with the wisdom and understanding that you are everything.
II
With this deeper understanding of gratitude, we become compelled to serve.
When we are grateful, we feel full and complete. We recognize our blessings, incredible good fortune, and acknowledge our luck.
When we yearn for nothing more, we become givers.
So richly blessed and embarrassed at our abundance of riches, we feel amazing, undeserving, and humbled. Thus, we are compelled to give. To pay our blessings forward.
Perhaps, recognizing that the gift bestowed upon us is too large for us to keep and meant to pass on to another. To serve our brothers and sisters.
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” - Luke 6:31