Be Thankful for What You’ve Got

Transcript

Let’s talk about being thankful for what you have.

So I was listening to this record, this old record I’ve been listening to the same version on YouTube for a couple of years. It’s mislabeled on YouTube it says it’s Curtis Mayfield and the title is Diamond in the Back.

The actual artist is a funk artist from the 70s, funk and soul artist William DeVaughn and the song is called “Be Grateful for What You’ve Got”. Its kinda funny cause it’s kinda like a proto gangster funk track cause he’s talking about riding in the Cadillac.

“Diamond in the back, drop top front, chilling on the scene in the gangsta lean.” Like riding around in the car and being a straight gangster but the song actually has this positive message which is actually the core message of the song even if you don’t have a Cadillac, even if you don’t have a car.

“Just be thankful for what you’ve got” alright that’s not the melody but William DeVaughn I recommend checking out the album with the same name. You can listen to it on YoutTube.

But I was walking out today I was thinking about making a post on Facebook saying: Hey, the sun is shining there’s beautiful 33 degree scene in Paraguay and the sun is shining down on us. And how lovely it is and we can be grateful for that.

And asking people “What are you grateful for?”

Now gratitude is an interesting emotion. Some people would say that they do not have control over their emotions. In my experience gratitude is one of the highest emotions that is easiest to have control over.

You can actually do this kind of mediation or thought exercise. When you get good at it, it only takes like 5 or 10 seconds to do.

So I know, in my experience I’ve had some tough times. Now I can be grateful to day that I’ve never been starving. That I’ve never wanted for food but I have had times where I was eating nothing but rice and beans. And sometimes just rice.

And I have had times where I’ve worked for 10 or 12 hour days and having nothing to show for it. Or working on commission and having a bit fat zero or a donut as we called it in those days.

So now I do have things. I have food, I can have enough money to go to some nicer restaurants. Like here in Asuncion and not worry too much how I’m going to pay for it.

I can enjoy the good things in life when I sit down for a meal even if it’s a humble meal.

I can say grace and remember how grateful I am.

So this is a kind of formula for helping get to gratitude.

So if you think about a time when you lacked something, what it felt like to lack it.

And now you have that thing.

Once, twice or three times I’ve been deprived of liberty unable to leave a detention center or that kind of thing.

Now I can walk freely.

What would it be like if you were locked in a cage and you couldn’t walk the streets? Couldn’t go and visit your friends?

If by chance you are locked up like that, what it be like if you didn’t have full control over your own breath?

Likely you do have control over your own breathe and you do have control over where you can put your eyes.

Maybe you even have control over where you can walk and where you can eat. There’s so many things to be grateful for.

Sometimes I say that this is an indirect path because if you’re not used to feeling gratitude then it helps to think about that lack and then look at the good things you have an experience that.

Also you can just be directly grateful, go straight to gratitude.

So instead of looking at an absence of violence, you look at peace. Something a little more subtle, something I am very grateful for.

Now looking back over your life maybe after you’ve got that taste of gratitude you can experience the gratitude for those times. And I am grateful for those times when I ate rice.

I’m grateful for the hard times because they show me my own strength.

I’m grateful for the good times because they show the abundance of grace.

Every day is a good day, and maybe tomorrow will be just a little bit better than today.

Thank you so much for listening, thank you for trying actively putting in the effort to experience gratitude in your life.

Like I said it’s one of the easiest higher emotions to access, like looking at the things you have and appreciating them.

It’s not like a lot of drugs you have to pay for, absolutely free and available in every single moment of every single day.

Thank you for experiencing gratitude.

Have a great day, enjoy that Paraguayan sun if you’re here in Asuncion and I’ll talk to you soon.