Give thanks for everything!

Recently, one of my acquaintances has been showing a very bad mood and an angry expression, so I impliedly asked him what’s wrong.

Then he said that he has no life these days.

When I asked again what makes you say that?

Still, in the past, he was the boss and it was pretty good, but the good business went bankrupt, and these days, I’m doing trivial things like this… Yeah, there’s no happiness and he has no life these days.

Looking at him reminded me of who I was about 15 years ago.

 There was a time when I was also really good like him. Everything I started was a jackpot, so there was nothing to be afraid of in the world. So I always had a straight neck and I was always full of pride. Then the subprime crisis completely ruined my life. In the end I had to start all over again from the bottom. As a result, I was ignored by people and heard harsh voices and living such a life, my face was always full of anger and dark, and when I opened my mouth, I was always complaining and complaining about how I used to be. But one day, looking at my face in the mirror, I realized something. It was that my mouth had no thanks.

 In 1 Thessalonians 6 there is a Bible verse that every Christian knows and memorizes.

 “Always rejoice.

  Pray without ceasing.

  Give thanks for everything.”

 It was a passage that I mumbled and recited a lot, and even studied the Bible with the church members, but it was not completely rooted in my life.

 

However, how can I always live joyfully like this verse in the Bible? How can I always live happily, joyfully like this? The difficult question I had to do with my heart, not my head, always remained as a question mark in my life.

 A few years ago, among the movies I watched with my children, there was a movie called “Inside out” and I was very impressed. It was an insightful cartoon film about how each human emotion – joy, depression, anger, shame, etc. affects our lives and controls our lives. Of course, it’s a bit disappointing that this movie develops a story based on “trauma” in Freud’s psychology, but it was a very easy to understand movie about how each emotion affects our daily lives.

 The question I heard while watching the movie was how the character, Joy, the main character of the movie, was able to establish herself as such a main emotion and lead other emotions well. If that could be the case, it would be much easier to put into practice the words “always rejoice” mentioned in the above verse of the Bible. If that is the case, surely our lives can always be joyful, enjoyable, and happy.

 Amid such thoughts and concerns, the conclusion I found was not too far away.

It was just “thank you”.

It is to live a life that is always grateful for the very small and trivial things.

It’s not like Freud, I’m not trying to forcefully fit the present me into my past life, nor am I living today for the sake of my future existence. And leaving behind all subjective evaluations and abilities… I am grateful for all the small and trivial things around me and me that exist in all my current circumstances and circumstances.

There is a very small fountain in our hearts. It becomes a fountain that does not dry out and overflows in our lives with joy as I constantly fill it with the words and actions of “thank you.” However, if “thanks” disappears from those words and actions, even for a moment, at some point the fountain dries up and the joy disappears, but rather the spring of “complaints” and “dissatisfaction” is filled with water.

Joy comes from gratitude. Whether to practice it or not is based on my subjective actions. So the choice and practice is mine.

What kind of spring is the fountain of my heart filled with now?