We spend an enormous amount of life asking for MORE.
More money. More time. More recognition. More comfort. More of whatever we believe will finally satisfy us.
And sometimes the greatest Pearl is discovering that what we were searching for was already sitting quietly in our hands.
Gratitude begins when MORE stops being our master.
Simply put…gratitude is having an attitude of being grateful.
And attitude is really our viewpoint — the place from which we stand and look upon the world, our circumstances and our own personal experiences.
Two people can possess nearly the same things and live entirely different lives.
One sees what is missing.
The other sees what has been given.
Same world.
Different eyes.
And therein begins THE GRATITUDE OF LIFE.
THE WANTING
There are so many ways to partake in and appreciate the life experience itself.
Where we get into trouble is when we begin comparing.
What could I have?
What does someone else have?
Why don’t I have that?
When is mine coming?
Without warning, the graciousness of simply being alive becomes compromised by the wanting of MORE.
Wanting something for a reason is one thing.
Wanting simply for the sake of having is another.
There is a point where wanting stops serving us and we begin serving it.
THE “I HAVE ENOUGH” SWITCH
There is a craving that can exceed the moment we are actually living in.
The body is here.
Life is here.
The day is here.
But the mind has wandered off looking for something else.
MORE.
The “I have enough” switch gets stuck in the GIVE ME MORE position.
And here is a question worth sitting with:
Who owns who now?
Do you own your possessions, ambitions and desires…
or have they quietly begun owning you?
WATCH YOUR WILL
Why abandon what is good, pure, decent, lovely and right while chasing something you believe will finally complete you?
Appreciate your portion, such as it is.
Then use your skills, talents and abilities and proceed from there.
Let providence join you.
Let an unexpected opportunity appear.
Let somebody lend a helping hand.
Let life participate too.
We sometimes become so willful about what we think MUST happen that we leave no room for what life may have been preparing for us all along.
Being willful comes with a warning:
Be careful what you insist upon.
You just may get it.
THE RIGHT WAY REWARDS
Anyone traveling with right intentions, good motives and a desire for what is decent will eventually discover something the world has difficulty explaining:
There are rewards that cannot be deposited into a bank account.
Peace.
Contentment.
A clean conscience.
Love.
Rest.
Friendship.
Purpose.
The ability to look at what you have and say:
THIS IS ENOUGH FOR THIS MOMENT.
Less is more is no myth when what you have is received gratefully.
START WITH THIS
Stop for a moment.
Before struggling.
Before stressing.
Before wanting.
Before pursuing the next thing at the expense of your health, peace or well-being…
notice what is already right under your nose.
If you are reading this, give thanks for something so obvious that most of us overlook it completely:
YOU WOKE UP!
You were given another day.
Another look around.
Another conversation.
Another sunrise.
Another opportunity to correct something.
Another opportunity to love somebody.
Another opportunity to experience LIFE.
Before asking what today will give you…
perhaps thank God that today arrived at all.
LEARN FROM SOLOMON
King Solomon remains one of history’s great lessons about MORE.
He pursued wealth, possessions, pleasure, accomplishment, wisdom and earthly experience on an enormous scale.
And what makes his testimony so valuable is that he wasn’t standing outside the candy store wondering what everything tasted like.
He went inside.
He sampled the shelves.
And after the experiment came the report:
ALL IS VANITY.
There is something profound about hearing “it isn’t there” from someone who had nearly everything mankind commonly believes will make him complete.
REPORT IN PLEASE
Without meaning, purpose, appreciation and gratitude for WHAT IS — rather than constantly dreaming about what could be — life can become strangely empty even while our hands are full.
That is the paradox.
You can have everything…
and still be searching.
There is no closure in MORE because MORE has no finish line.
It moves every time you approach it.
VANITY…WHAT IS THIS?
Vanity carries the quality of futility when things are pursued merely for the superficial having of them.
Nothing is necessarily wrong with having.
The question is HOW the having affects the person doing the having.
Does it produce gratitude?
Does it produce generosity?
Does it produce humility?
Does it allow you to help somebody?
Or does it merely awaken the appetite for MORE?
Ten dollars or ten million dollars can teach the same lesson.
It isn’t merely what sits in your hand.
It is what happens inside you while holding it.
IT ADDICTS AND DEMANDS
When we journey too far away from contentment, satisfaction and appreciation, MORE becomes a demanding companion.
It never says:
“That’s enough. Sit down. Enjoy your life.”
Instead it whispers:
One more.
A little bigger.
A little better.
A little richer.
A little more recognition.
Then I’ll be satisfied.
But “then” keeps moving.
This is why gratitude is more powerful than it first appears.
Gratitude interrupts the appetite.
It says:
LOOK.
NOTICE.
RECEIVE.
APPRECIATE.
THIS MOMENT COUNTS TOO.
A STATE OF SIMPLICITY = LIBERTY
Solomon’s lesson was not that we should own nothing, accomplish nothing or enjoy nothing.
The deeper lesson is that earthly abundance cannot produce the thing the soul is actually looking for.
A person can possess much and remain free.
Another can possess very little and still be enslaved by wanting.
The difference is not necessarily the amount.
It is the relationship.
When you appreciate what comes your way without demanding that it complete you, you remain free to actually enjoy it.
THE GRATITUDE OF LIFE
Maybe gratitude isn’t something we occasionally practice.
Maybe it is a way of seeing.
A way of receiving life instead of constantly negotiating with it.
I have learned that some of life’s greatest treasures arrive without fanfare.
A quiet morning.
A good meal.
Someone happy to see you.
A dog resting nearby.
A breeze through an open window.
A stranger who smiles.
A problem finally resolved.
A night’s sleep.
The ability to walk.
The ability to think.
The opportunity to begin again.
We overlook these things because they don’t announce themselves as riches.
But perhaps they are.
SEEK THIS IF YOU SEEK ANYTHING
Seek the kind of nourishment that leaves you content rather than craving another helping before you have tasted the first.
The true bread of life does something the world cannot do.
It satisfies.
And when the soul has tasted something real, it doesn’t scream for MORE.
It becomes still.
It becomes thankful.
It receives.
And remember…
Sometimes that bread comes in crumbs too.
Don’t overlook them.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com
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