“Should I strive for more or be satisfied with what I have?”
I received the above question from a reader and this is my response:
It’s about GRATITUDE not ATTITUDE
Gratitude makes what we have enough. And when we are in a state of gratitude, we are in a state of graceful acceptance of what is. Our awareness is focused on plenitude, not lack. And then we recognize that we have enough, that we are enough, that we enjoy enough. And then… enough is enough.
Paradoxically, by cultivating this state of continued thankfulness we draw MORE to us for which to be grateful. By thanking the Universe for what we have, it provides us more: more to have, more to experience, more to play, more to celebrate, more to love, more to enjoy. More, MORE, MORE!
It’s not about not wanting more nor desiring less. It’s about being grateful for that which is, for all that we have, can, do, are and will be.
Gratitude is natural
It arises naturally from pleasant happenings. When we are satisfied — with a meal, an experience, a product, a performance — we look for someone to praise, to acknowledge, to thank for the source of our satisfaction. We are filled. And being grateful acknowledges our state of fullness. Our state of satiety. Our state of abundance.
Abundant gratitude, then, is a state of ultimate satisfaction.
Gratitude and satisfaction are two sides of the same coin
Inextricably linked. Flip-sides. Like me and my shadow. Or one hand washing the other. Begin with thanks and satisfaction will beat a path to your door. Feel satisfaction imbue your senses and the desire to thank someone naturally arises.
Paradoxically, without gratitude there can be no satifaction. For what is satisfaction absent its grateful compatriot? Are you ever truly satisfied if you can find no one to thank and nothing to thank about?
Thank fully
Or perhaps you harbor a looming criticism of what you’ve received? A passing judgment? A dissatisfaction? Is there a possible “thanks, but…” in your gratitude? Resist the urge. Reverse your Nike: Just don’t do it. Half-assing your gratitude just reveals your “thanks” butt.
Think so? Thank so!
So when you feel satisfied, be sure to offer a complete, wholehearted thank you — to your host, to the source of your satiety, to the Universe — ‘cause without gratitude, even if you try and you try and you try and you try… you can’t get no, you can’t get no… no no no.
Satisfaction
So whether you strive for more or strive for satiety, strive for peace or strive for pleasure, decide to be thankful for all that you have, as nothing will fulfill you without gratitude. And nothing will fulfill you like gratitude.
Gratefulness, thankfulness, graciousness, is the root—the beloved kin, the sine qua non—of satisfaction.
And that’s something with which even Mick Jagger can agree.