Each one of us has an unique place in the universal scheme of things – and we need to accept it with deep gratitude. And no matter what is this place, we need to avoid all mental tendencies to escapism.

I am sure we all know people who wish to be someone else, or to live someone else’s life. The more they think along these lines, the worse they feel about themselves and their current position. Unknowingly, they abuse the creative energy of their imagination which could be applied to transformation of their circumstances. So, it is in our best interests not to escape (for it is impossible anyway), but to assume the full responsibility for who we are and where we are.

“But I have no chances to succeed at my place”, could someone say. Such one mistakenly assumes that success depends on favorable conditions. The power of success resides within each one of us. It is the universal force which propels us toward the successful accomplishment of divinely inspired goals. This force often brings to us the necessary help from outside and makes us aware of “times and seasons” when we need to act – yet its main activity is within, not without. A person that is not mentally prepared for success, won’t achieve much even in the best circumstances.

So, don’t despise the place where you are now – be grateful for it. As we mentioned before, gratitude is joy and rapture which we experience when we discern inherent goodness of a thing, a person, or an event. When we moan and complain about our “lot in life”, we make ourselves blind to divine goodness – and divine opportunities all around us. Gratitude is the great eye-opener.

Be grateful for your place is the universal scheme of things. In other words, enlarge your mental horizon and put yourself into the universal framework. Do not think of yourself in the small way. You are a child of the universe, and your life has universal meaning.

This is something that you have simply by the right of existence. You don’t have to earn it. You don’t have to be chosen for it. If we are alive, we belong to the universe – and the universe with all its treasures belongs to us.

We do not have to perceive the world as a dangerous and threatening place. As we become enlightened, we come to the realization that many of the things we’re afraid of were created by our fears. Our fears became materialized – but our love and gratitude will dissolve those morbid creations. It has been said that all things work together for good of individuals that love the good and recognize their place in the universal scheme of things.

There is no way to prove it rather than to act upon this formula – just like there is no way to learn to swim rather than to step into water. Courage to live lovingly and gratefully comes from spiritual awareness, and it has to be daily reinforced by our actions.

Be grateful for all the blessings which you have right now, right where we are. Let your thoughts and self-talk be positive, loving, generous. Keep positive images in your mind – and you will create a mental magnet which will attract to you greater good and fulfill the desires of your heart. Gratitude is neither submission nor resignation – it is the great transformative power.

The mistake of moaners and complainers is that they are mostly unaware of their power to create greater good. They miss the vital dynamism and the flexibility of life. They see their circumstances as static – as something which is imposed on them, either by God, or by “fate”, or by the society. When they awaken, they will see that their troubles are but results of ignorance.

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor’, said Henry Thoreau. He was profoundly right.

For so long many of us were taught that some of our character traits, thoughts, desires, and inclinations are “evil”. We were instructed to fight against them – or, at least, to hide them from others. No wonder it is difficult for so many people to accept themselves, and to be grateful for who they are. Their souls are like a “house divided against itself”.

Such is their philosophy of life: life is about a never-ending battle between “good” and “evil”. Perhaps we agreed with this notion, too. But why don’t we stop for a moment and think: did this attitude toward life make us happy? We might be surprised to notice that the opposite is true: our happiest moments were when we forgot about fighting within and without, relaxed, and allowed the flow of life to carry us forward.

When we were happy, we weren’t passive – yet our activity proceeded from the inner core of our being. It was not conditioned by outward conditions or rules of conduct imposed on us. We joyfully responded to inner urges. We allowed ourselves to be who we are, without fear or reservations.

All happy people live in such a way – whether consciously or instinctively. And no matter how unhappy we might feel at the present moment, we all can implement the same principles – and tap into the universal wellspring of happiness.

First of all, we need to reconcile with ourselves and to realize that every part of our being is valuable and has its purpose. There is no inherent evil within us. All so-called “evil” is but concealed good – or, rather, undeveloped and immature good. It is pointless to judge immature aspects. Let them grow and unfold their full potential! We do not condemn a child for not being as strong and as smart as an adult.

Be consciously grateful for who you are. Do not take yourself, or any of your qualities and possessions for granted. You will learn from your own experience that focused gratitude dissolves tensions and inner conflicts, brings peace and happiness.

Being grateful for who you are doesn’t mean that you should feel superior to others. It does not mean that you should become unaware about the mistakes you make, or areas where growth is needed. Yet when you look within yourself, dare to love yourself regardless seeming imperfections. They are not the limits of who you truly are and what you can be.

Be grateful for your mind – for your ability to think, to analyze, to invent new things, and to stay connected with God’s mind.

Be grateful for your emotions – for your ability to love, to forgive, to be happy, to enjoy the beauty of the world, and to be one with the loving heart of God.

Be thankful for your body – for your ability to live and move in the world, to interact with the universe in so many meaningful ways.

Be thankful for your past – it helped you to become who you are. God was present within you and your experiences even if you haven’t realized it. Be thankful for your present – for your ability to live into the eternal NOW. You are the master of your life – through your ability to decide, to make choices, to direct your attentions.

Finally, be thankful for your Divine nature. You are not mere “flesh-and-blood” – you are a spiritual being, the image and likeness of God. Recognize this great fact – and be thankful for it. Be thankful for your inner light which shines upon all your ways. Be thankful for the power of the Spirit which allows you to transcend all seeming limitations. Divine goodness resides within you. You are made of God, and you as you become more aware of this fact, you will gradually move toward the desired fulfillment.

Let me suggest you six most important themes for developing gratitude. I will present them as affirmations:

I am grateful for all Life.
I am grateful for who I am.
I am grateful for my unique place in the universal scheme of things.
I am grateful for all my relationships.
I am grateful for my abundant provision.
I am grateful for the unknown.

First things first: in order to bring tangible results in our life, gratitude should be all-encompassing. In other words, we need to be grateful for all there is, without any exceptions. I do realize that it is a high goal, and not so many of us will achieve it in this lifetime – yet we should always aspire to this ideal. It is far much better to move into the right direction slowly, one step at a time, than not move at all.

The fact is, if we are grateful only for so-called “good” things and experiences, we act much like a farmer that blesses full-grown plants but curses seeds which are still in the ground. But no wise farmer will ever curse seeds. Seeds, once they are planted and properly taken care of, will spring forth, grow, and become fruitful plants.

We mentioned before that gratitude allows us to see that there is an inherent goodness within every person, thing, or event. This goodness might not be evident. Looking at some things, we often label them as “bad”, “dangerous”, “destructive”, and so forth. But could it be that we just don’t see them in depth – as they truly are – and because of this we cannot establish proper relationships with them? Could it be that great spiritual teachers of the past were right?

Inherent goodness of all things is the teaching of all mystical traditions. The Baal Shem Tov, a famous Jewish mystic, said:

«There is no act, word or thought in which the essence of divinity is not constricted and hiding.

And so when you look and see with your mind’s eye, you will see the inner, life-force aspect of everything, not just its outer, superficial layer. You will see nothing but the divine power inside all things that is giving them life, being and existence at every moment.

And when you listen carefully to the inner voice within any physical sound that you hear, you will hear only the voice of God as, at that moment, it is literally giving life and existence to the sound that you are hearing».

In the gospel of Thomas Jesus says, in essence, the same thing – God is present in all Life. And since God is the ultimate goodness, the same goodness is present everywhere.

“I am the light that is over all things. I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained.
Split a piece of wood; I am there.
Lift up the stone, and you will find me there.”

Mysticism is not about escaping from the world into a realm of illusions. It has nothing to do with despising the world or struggling against it. True mysticism is about loving the world deeper than any materialist could ever do.

A mystic sees no so-called “dead matter”. He/she recognizes that every thing is alive and vibrant with God’s life. But as the gospel of Thomas suggests, it takes “lifting up stones” and “splitting pieces of wood” to achieve that perception.

Gratitude is the art of directed attention. When we look at certain thing, we might not discern its goodness – but let us look with intensity and an open heart. Let us say to ourselves: “I recognize that this thing is a part of the great Whole. It has its being in God – just like me. I am willing to let go my though patterns and preconceived ideas about thins thing, my resentment to it, and to search for true understanding. Let my inner eyes be enlightened. May I see the presence of God within this thing – the same presence that is within me”.

In the last year we touched the subject of meaningful life. Someone might ask a reasonable question: what are signs of a person who lives meaningfully? How does he or she look like?

One thing is certain – meaningful life is not directly correlated with outward accomplishments of a particular kind. Psychologists could tell us many stories about their patients who are successful in their work, yet suffer from inner emptiness and turmoil. Their lives are compartmentalized: although they know principles which make them winners and achievers, they are far from being whole and fulfilled.

I think that the foremost quality of a person who lives meaningfully is peace. This peace transcends current experiences of an individual, so it is possible for him/her to be peaceful even if things aren’t going well. A person is at peace with himself/herself, the Higher Power, and with the whole world. And the next vitally important quality of such happy individual is gratitude.

Gratitude is not just about being nice and polite. It comes from deep understanding of the nature of things.

Gratitude is not something that we do when we feel like it. It is not something that we do in obedience to some religious law in order to avoid sufferings and to earn blessings. Gratitude is the way we perceive our relationships with whole life.

So, what is gratitude? It is joy and rapture which we experience when we discern inherent goodness of a thing, a person, or an event.

Some people insist that only believers in God can be truly grateful. I understand their point, but I think that their vision of reality is slightly distorted. They make the same mistake as those who say that only believers in a certain doctrine can be truly loving. You just have to look around carefully enough to become convinced that it is not true.

Gratitude comes not from our minds and ideas contained therein, but from our innermost being, from our divine nature. Even unbelievers possess this nature. We all live, move, and have our being within God.  Yet we can make a conscious decision to stay attuned to the spirit of gratitude, and to give it outward expression. We will learn from our experience that gratitude is one of the most important life’s dynamics which contributes to our happiness and fulfillment.

If we are uncertain which way to go, gratitude will show us the best path. If we are ambiguous how we can ever achieve success, gratitude will multiply all good things in our world. It will attract to us even greater blessings from the storehouse of the universe.

Some people object to that. They think that an attitude of gratitude is counterproductive, because if a person is perfectly satisfied with everything, he/she doesn’t want to improve life. He/she accepts things which are actually unacceptable. Could this criticism be justified?

It seems that those remarks come from people who never gave themselves to the practice of gratitude. Therefore, their position is the one of a casual observer. They really haven’t experienced that which they judge. For true gratitude never leads us to resignation and never makes us passive.

The same innermost being from which our gratitude flows, is the source of creative ideas and urges to move on in our outward expression. It is the new dimension of opportunities and resources at our disposal. All those who tap into that source never become disappointed with it.

As I mentioned before, there is no need to be an adherent of a certain doctrine in order to be grateful. Yet consciousness development of gratitude is certainly a spiritual experience.