"Without Gratitude There Is No Prosperity"

Tea bag wisdom in the age of apocalypse.

I often feel angry about the ways of modern society. Do you too?

This sometimes leads me to a frame of mind where I just want everything to blow up. The angry logic is... if it all crumbles, then at least it won't continue to be so oppressive and harmful. I caught myself down this logic path this week. I was feeling tempted to vote for a ballot referendum because I knew it would hurt an industry that I have a beef with. Rationally, I knew the legislature was flawed and that the unintended consequences would not be worth the gain, but for a moment, I didn't care. I imagined it feeling good to send a shock wave through to my enemies.

In the book "Good Omens," a work of fiction about the apocalypse, this is exactly the logic of the young Antichrist. The Antichrist (aka Adam Young) is a talented, charismatic, and loving kid who has an enlightenment experience learning about mainstream spiritual topics with a witchy neighbor. He learns that modern aliens only bring messages of "unconditional love and world peace," that there once was a hidden magical city of Atlantis, and that humans are killing the earth. He loves the aliens and lost cities, but is so angry at what humanity has done to the earth (in particular killing whales and using nuclear weapons) that he decides humanity needs to be brought down and crumbled. Unlike the rest of us who sometimes share this fantasy, he is the son of Satan and able to actually manifest this plan to usher in the end times.

How can our love of something be so strong that it leads to total destruction? Aren't we harming both what we love and what we hate when we act this way? If we're wishing destruction on the outside, we are also doing the same within ourselves. It's not necessarily bad to break things down, but in order to stay in harmony it needs to be done in a kind, loving, and respectful way.

Enter gratitude. Gratitude is the antidote. Gratitude is the medicine that can help us move through these places of hatred, avoid the Antichrist within, and move into a more nuanced state of patience and acceptance. Look around you, what do you see? A protective house, loving family and friends, a beautiful bird singing on your path? What about the clouds or the fog or the fall sunrise? Can you be grateful for the feeling of running your fingers through a bag of rice? What about the smell of the sidewalk after rain? A warm steaming cup of tea? There is always something to be thankful for, always miracles that bring meaning and hope to our very, very imperfect human lives.

Yes, humanity is far from perfect. Yes, humans have and are constantly doing harmful things to innocents. Yes, the pain of knowing all of this is incredibly hard to bear. Neither being afraid of things changing nor blowing everything up is going to solve the situation. Instead of cutting off parts we don't like, a more skillful response is to find the vibration of mercy and compassion in our hearts. An intentional practice of gratitude can help us more skillfully hold both sides of ourselves and humanity; both the kind and the cruel, both the healing and the hurtful. In this way, we can learn to walk forward to meet what comes with equanimity and peace.

"Gratitude is not about what is received; it's about how you receive what is there."