Gratitude and Desire

In my new book, Mindfulness Breaks: The path to inner peace and happiness (under construction,) I have a whole chapter on gratitude and offer a Gratitude Mindfulness Break. Gratitude is an important practice if we want to get beyond being self-centered and progress in spiritual development. This is something I have learned from personal experience.

I am happy to share with you an email from Lissa Rankin, MD today:

My Dear Jerome,

The relationship between gratitude, desire, and surrender can be tricky.

If you solely focus on being grateful for what you have, you may deny desires out of fear that those desires won’t be met.

If you solely focus on what you desire without focusing on being grateful for what you have, you may feel burdened by the weight of unmet longing.

But if you express gratitude for what you have, acknowledge the unmet desires you yearn for, and then turn it all over to Divine Will, you will find peace.

Try this prayer: “If what I desire is in alignment with Divine Will, please make it so; if not, please free me from this longing and grant me peace.”

Trusting what will be,

Your Inner Pilot Light

When my children were young, my wife used to say, “To desire what you don’t have is to waste what you do have.” She continues to say this even today now that they are beyond 30 years.

Try this practice: every night before you go to sleep, think of three things you are grateful for this day. It can be three small things like a good cup of coffee or nice events like a concert or a walk in nature.

What three things are you grateful for today?

Books by Lissa Rankin

Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself by Lissa Rankin M.D. A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER AS SEEN ON NATIONAL PUBLIC TELEVISION We’ve been led to believe that when we get sick, it’s our genetics. Or it’s just bad luck—and doctors alone hold the keys to optimal health. Therefore when Dr. Lissa Ran… Buy Now on Amazon