A life of gratitude accepts the bad with the good. Genuine gratitude is not a zero sum game in which thankfulness increases the more fortunate you are and decreases the more adversity you experience.I thought this was a particularly good thought. I think this is something that deep down I fear...that I will not be able to hold onto gratitude if things get too bad, as though there is a threshold out there past which I can no longer endure. And what then? Do I disappear, disintegrate, shrivel, go crazy, become unloveable and abandoned?
It reminds me once again, "when is bad 'bad' and good 'good'?" Only when we judge them so. Take judgment away and what is, just is. Therefore fortune and adversity don't really exist except in the presence of judgment. Maybe, then, my greater fear is that I cannot overcome my natural tendency to judge things. Certainly my 'knee-jerk' reaction tells me I am no where near letting go of judging things 'good' and 'bad'. Hopefully, with practice and the gentle, loving reminders I get from people who see this as I do, I can gradually let go of judgment. I know for sure I will not be getting help from the world in general which thrives on the successes and failures of all of us.
