Meditations on Thankfulness: Day 2

"Thanksgiving enables us to be fully present in each of the moments of our lives and, at the same time, be fully present to the eternity which is crashing into those moments (for those who have eyes to see). We have the ability to resist the culture of despair by bearing witness to life and hope! Cynicism loosens its smugly fearful, icy grip, warmed by winds of thanks."

Day 2: Whether or not it should be this way, thankfulness is very relative. It is one of the reasons that thankfulness and humility are bedfellows. It is reality that if you think that you are entitled to the world, than you will not be thankful unless you have the world. One of the secrets to thankfulness as an attitude is to understand realistic expectations. Realize that you do not deserve much and you will in turn be much more thankful simply because there will be much more to be thankful for. When you relate yourself to those who have nothing than your eyes will be open to see the little things around you and rejoice in them, and I mean the really little things. For instance, cultivate a conscious understanding that many people the world over do not have access to flushing toilets, a blessing that has just become part of our lives, and you will be that much more thankful that you have flushing toilets. In order to really develop an attitude of thankfulness, you must cultivate practices that remove you from complacent, taking things from granted, whether those be relationships, blessings, what have you, and start to see things from a lower perspective.
What I am trying to say is that thankfulness for the small things rests on you believing that you do not deserve the world. I am thankful for cells that regenerate because there are so many people who are sick and much less healthy than I am. I am thankful for the money that I have because there are so many people who have so much less than me, even though I am not upper-class. Understand? Thankfulness needs humility in order to really thrive. Without humility thankfulness does not thrive and is not really genuine because it is always backed by an air of wanting more. You need to be content (not complacent) in order to be thankful.
I would encourage this generation, one of entitlement, to change to humility and be thankful. Relate yourself to those who have less, even nothing and you will find yourself thankful, and all of the benefits that come therefrom. Relate yourself to those who have more than you feeling like you are entitled and you will develop an attitude of bitterness and all of the defeats that come therefrom. The choice is yours.
This has been the second day meditating on thankfulness.