How Gratitude Leads to Happiness

There are so many ways of being in the world. Each outer condition, circumstance or event can elicit its own response. Our moods, sense of who we are, our self-worth and even our willingness to live is often a reaction to what is happening or not happening in our life at any given moment. One way to cope with all of life’s adversities is to cultivate genuine gratitude which leads to an overall sense of happiness.

Happiness

Are you happy? What a question… who is asking and who is supplying the answer? But it is not so silly or inane when you consider that true happiness is not a response to outer conditions, rather it is a state of mind and a feeling that arises out of a deep understanding in the inherent “rightness” of one’s life. One that is not based on what you think you do or don’t deserve but simply by the fact that you are alive and awake to the inherent preciousness and unlimited potential that life holds. Gratitude, like suffering is a state of mind.

I remember a time when I was just eighteen, it was New Year’s Eve and I had no money, nowhere to go and no prospects. I was at the beach, it was nighttime and the waves were crashing on the shore. I was overcome by a feeling of indestructible joy and gratitude that arose from deep inside me. I “knew” that what I was experiencing was temporary and that my life was not going to end with me being homeless and hungry. I felt strong within myself and looked forward to what the New Year would bring.

Of course, since then there have been many other periods of challenge, pain and confusion but I always knew that these feelings and states of mind were of my own making. One thing that the practice of meditation has taught me is that the nature of mind, left to its own devices, is buoyant, joyful and creative. This natural state of mind is supported by feelings of abiding confidence and well-being. Happiness is not just an accumulation of easy times, fond memories and secure circumstances. Rather happiness is above all the ability to make choices and make positive changes when life is unsatisfactory. For all of these reasons we can be grateful.

Gratitude

Gratitude is a state of being, an awareness of life and the rightness of your place in it.

Gratitude is not based on what you have or do not have. Gratitude is a state of being, an awareness of life and the rightness of your place in it. Happiness that endures is the result of diligent work. Persistent meditation can help one to encounter that inner state of being that is not subject to outer conditions. The practice of mindfulness alerts us to the arising of negative thoughts, feelings and actions, but it can also alert us to that which we are grateful for.

Life is always changing, the nature of desire drives us to want things we do not have. Our aversion to certain people, circumstances and conditions separates us from the richness of life, which is like a kaleidoscope of change, each image presenting exactly what is required by the person experiencing it. Often our unhappiness is driven by how we view the circumstances of others. Some people live a life that seems charmed. Everything seems to come easy for them while we toil in our own day-to-day existence. We can come up short quickly and easily when we start to compare our life to others. Even when we try to, “Count our blessings,” by seeing how we are much better off than people living in Bangladesh or Haiti we are indulging in a toxic way of thinking.

Comparisons often are not useful ways to get in touch with true gratitude. Because they cause us to feel feelings of frustration, envy and jealousy. These feelings are at best unproductive and at worst like a poison. We cannot become happy or grateful by avoiding the unpleasant realities of life. Wearing tinted glasses, indulging in mind-numbing experiences and having a manic thirst for fun and excitement are not the ways to cultivate it. If we cannot abide our own suffering and we are unsuccessful at avoiding the suffering of others can we be truly happy?

There are many examples of people living in circumstances of extreme suffering and not losing touch with their inner fortress of peace. If we identify with our circumstances, we cannot become free from the negative impact of them. If we have a disease such as cancer, we don’t say, “I am cancer.” If we do, we deny ourselves the inner meaning of that experience. Gratitude results from the process of joyfully living with and through an experience that reveals our strength, fragility and our abiding love for ourselves and others. We cannot achieve peace by ignoring the conditions of life.

We can free ourselves from these habits of thought first by mindfully becoming aware of them arising in our minds and feelings. We then step back and become that person who is observing these thoughts. This is our own basic awareness. This innate aspect of ourselves is untouched by our ever-changing thoughts, moods and reactions and calmly abides within the center of our being under any and all circumstances. We need to cultivate a relationship with this aspect of ourselves while at the same time eroding the foundations upon which our suffering and dissatisfaction are built upon.

Gratitude and happiness arise naturally when we see the sameness that exists in our self and others, we respond to people, animals and to life with loving kindness

Gratitude and Happiness Arise Naturally

Through wisdom and compassion, we learn that we are not different than anyone else and when we judge others we deny our own humanity. Gratitude and happiness arise naturally when we see the sameness that exists in our self and others, we respond to people, animals and to life with loving kindness. When we apply ourselves, positive changes do occur. Happiness and the traits that arise out of it are gradual but they do accrue over time. Generosity, empathy, altruism and joyful enthusiasm are by-products that come with a sincere and steady effort. Within each of us is a wise and knowing presence, ready to respond to any step taken toward knowing that light and freedom within.

Recommended Gratitude Meditations

Cultivating Gratitude - a guided meditation that provides a way for you to cultivate a grateful heart. 

Morning Gratitude Meditation - guided meditation to activate gratitude energy and allow it to radiate throughout the whole of your being throughout the day.

Gratitude Sleep Meditation - a deeply relaxing gratitude sleep meditation that helps you to review your day with the lens of gratitude and then fall into healing sleep.

Body Scan Meditation - In this guided Body Scan Meditation we bestow the amazing gift of gratitude upon our whole body to appreciate, nurture, restore and regenerate every cell of our being.

View more gratitude meditations.
Visit our Gratitude Compilation page to learn more about the benefits of gratitude.