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| Thank you, thank you, thank you. |
“Thankfulness creates gratitude which generates contentment that causes peace.”- Todd Stocker
The secret to finding the simple life that appeals you is tapping into the spirit of gratitude and thankfulness. It is this spirit which allows one to appreciate what they have instead of longing for what they might have.
Thankfulness leads to contentment, one thing advertisers and neuro-marketing manipulators do not want you to feel. Ever. They need you to be constantly craving.
They begrudgingly give it up for Thanksgiving, but follow it up with Black Friday, the most surreal shopping event of the year. “Ok, enough of the gratitude, take your desire, lust and acquisitiveness off pause and let's get back to shopping.”
“Sometimes we spend so much time and energy thinking about where we want to go that we don't notice where we happen to be.”- Dan Gutman
So we have supper with the family, give thanks for our good fortune to be living in the land of everything for everybody all the time, then spend the night camping out on a sidewalk so we can be the first to grab a deal on the lust-have material trinket of the year.
Be thankful you have fists, because you might have to use them to break the store doors down, or beat a competing consumer for the last item on the shelf.
What if, when Thanksgiving ended, you decided not to re-engage your infinite desire for more? What if you decided you had enough, and no amount of more could possibly improve your quality of life?What if you decided that living to work and shop was the problem, and chose instead to be perpetually grateful for the most precious of things in life?
What if you decided to be content with what you already have? More? No thank-you.
“Be thankful for your allotment in an imperfect world. Though better circumstances can be imagined, far worse are nearer misses than you probably care to realize.”- Richelle E. Goodrich
I am thankful to be alive, healthy, and experience love in my life. I am grateful to have enough to eat, a warm, dry place to rest my head, and clothes to keep me warm and covered. I am content with a minimal level of material possessions, and appreciate how they actively support the things I love to do with my time.
If you can cultivate a daily, moment to moment appreciation for the gifts the Universe has bestowed up you and your life, you are on your way to creating a simple, intentional life that allows the best possible outcomes for you, the human family, and all life on Earth.
I love that Goodrich quote. Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for continuing to inspire and support others with your message. :-)
ReplyDeleteLorraine,
DeleteHappy Thanksgiving. We are grateful for you, your family, and your blog. And our painted rock. :)
Happy Black Friday, will not be buying anything today or on Cyber Monday. Just buying enough to live on with regard to basic need brings contentment. Enjoying the seasons and just living. Meditation makes me feel better just to be and wander. The process to simplicity isn't easy as I have never really been a consumer, but I'm aware of craving to buy, meditation has allowed me to get past this craving. For me the idea of buyer's regret helps to tell if you actually need something as it does not seem to be a problem when buying things I generally need.
ReplyDeletePeace,
Alex
Thanks Gregg, wonderful post. For Thanksgiving we visited family about an hour's drive from home, and as we came home last night about 8pm on the interstate, we drove past an outlet shopping mall. It was packed with cars and people...this was the night of Thanksgiving! We drove past a Target store too, and it was full of cars. Just crazy. We plan on a Black Friday-day of birding, since it will be a rare dry day in Western Oregon, and that is what we'd rather do than spend money on stuff we don't need.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I want to comment on your use of the word "content" in this post. I like that word more and more instead of happy...one can be content but still have a range of emotions that are appropriate but if one has to be "happy" all the time, how can you be sad or confused or frustrated - all very natural and often helpful feelings? So again, thanks for using that term and I am working each day to be content with the amazing life I have.
-Mary
Mary, I love your commentary on the word, "content." Thanks to Gregg and you for this.
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