Yesterday I was sitting on my deck eating lunch and as I looked around I couldn’t help but smile. In that moment, I was completely overcome with gratitude. I was eating a vibrant, nutritious meal, the temperature was perfect, the view more beautiful than ever and my home everything I could ask for and more. I had everything I could ever want in that moment. But my gratitude didn’t end there. I was so grateful for my ability to love my life as it is, to feel so abundant in what I already have, rather than be caught up in a state of desire wanting for more. Those two different states of mind, desire and gratitude, are like two very different pairs of glasses…and we get to choose which glasses we wear.
A few hours earlier, that same day, I sat on my deck with a friend who wore the glasses of desire. She shared some great ideas for a variety of ways to improve my yard. It was fun to to talk about, fun to dream, but the dream ended with the conversation. Because, unlike my friend, I was wearing the glasses of gratitude. Sure, improvements and upgrades would be neat, but I didn’t need them to be happy. I was so happy with what I already had.
Living in a state of desire is like dreaming of your next vacation while you’re on vacation. It’s impossible to appreciate the here and now if your mind is living in the future. Desire is future-thinking, gratitude is rooted in the present. It’s difficult to make space in our brains for these two different perspectives. To kill the vicious cycle of always longing for more, choose instead to be grateful for all that you already have. It may turn out that your life is far more abundant than you realized.