Skip to content

    “Gratitude will unlock all other virtues and is something you can get better at.”

    Kevin Kelly, Blog

      “We’ve been born in a time and place where we have the luxury of hearing, contemplating, and putting into action teachings that awaken us to our enlightened mind.  We’re relatively healthy, we have a roof over our head and food in our mouths.  We have family and friends.  We’ve encountered someone who can teach us how to train our mind and open our heart.  Being threatened by nuclear war, terrorism, and global warming is a reminder that we can’t take such conditions for granted.  We’re just these tiny vulnerable beings riding on a blue dot in space.  Yet sometimes we act as if we’re the center of the universe.  The enlightened alternative is to appreciate how incredibly rare and precious human life is.  The enlightened alternative is to appreciate everything.  By appreciating whatever we encounter, we can use it to further our journey of warriorship.  We are good as we are, and it is good as it is.  Once we have this understanding, we’ll see that we are living in a sacred world.” ~ Sakyong Mipham, Turning the Mind Into An Ally (Page 143)

        “Fred, who had more hardships than most people but was highly grateful, wanted to live to 110; my mother, who had more advantages than most people, saw no point in living.  Advantages alone—even awareness of them—weren’t enough, perhaps because they can be lost.  Gratitude, on the other hand, was an affirmation that the world gave you things, and might continue to do so.” ~ John Leland, Happiness is a Choice You Make (Page 122)

          “Thanks are the highest form of thought, and… gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” ~ G. K. Chesterton, via Happiness is a Choice You Make (Page 118)

            “Suppose two astronauts go to the moon.  When they arrive, they have an accident and find out that they have only enough oxygen for two days.  There is no hope of someone coming from Earth in time to rescue them.  They have only two days to live.  If you asked them at that moment, ‘What is your deepest wish?’ they would answer, ‘To be back home walking on the beautiful planet Earth.’  That would be enough for them; they would not want anything else.  They would not want to be the head of a large corporation, a big celebrity or president of the United States.  They would not want anything except to be back on Earth—to be walking on Earth, enjoying every step, listening to the sounds of nature and holding the hand of their beloved while contemplating the moon.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, No Death, No Fear

              “This is my idea of being successful—be a nobody!  Just be ordinary, nobody, and life will be a tremendous joy to you.  Just be simple.  Don’t create complexities around yourself.  Don’t create demands.  Whatever comes on its own, receive it as a gift, and enjoy and delight in it.  And millions are the joys that are being showered on you, but because of your demanding mind, you cannot see them.  Your mind is in such a hurry to be successful, to be somebody special, that you miss all the glory that is just available.” ~ Osho, Fame, Fortune, and Ambition