Remastering Gratitude

Gratitude and wealth are closely related. When we feel wealthy, we cannot avoid but to feel grateful. And when we feel grateful, we feel equally wealthy despite our financial circumstances.

Of course, wealth is a subjective term. The amount of resources I must own in order to consider myself a wealthy individual may be very different from the amount of resources you need to see yourself as wealthy. But that is beyond the point, what I’m really interested is in the gratitude factor in wealth.

Because of this apparent connection between wealth and gratitude, many so-called wealth experts suggest that if we want to increase our wealth, we should focus on being more grateful.  This sounds pretty good on the surface and meshes well with the law of attraction.  The idea is that by feeling more grateful, we will feel wealthier and thereby attract more abundance into our life.

But whether you believe in the law of attraction or no, I found there was an effective way to practice gratitude and an ineffective way.

Reactive Gratitude

First, let’s address the ineffective way of addressing gratitude, or how I call if, reactive gratitude.

This is the gratitude we feel in relation to our material or physical possessions and our immediate circumstances. When we practice reactive gratitude we often think about the fact that we have our basic needs cover, we are healthy, we might have a good relationship with one or more individuals in our lives (spouse, boy/girlfriend, children, close friends, etc.), a stable job, etc.

There’s nothing wrong with reactive gratitude. Actually, it’s way better to be grateful for our physical circumstances, than to be stuck in negative patters of thinking, or not being able to recognize the positive aspects of our lives.

The thing is, reactive gratitude is temporary and relatively weak.

We can enjoy this state of gratitude temporarily, but overall we will remain stuck in our old patterns.  Reactive gratitude is fragile, since all it takes to knock us out of state is a change in circumstances or a change in our focus.  Even getting the mail can kill it.

Proactive Gratitude

Proactive gratitude it’s independent of situations and circumstances.  Rather than being a temporary emotion that requires constant focus, proactive gratitude is related to attitude.

Proactive gratitude is common when we feel grateful for things beyond our circumstances, such as life itself, the challenges we have faced, the lessons we have learned from our mistakes, our consciousness, etc.

The amazing thing about proactive gratitude is that with time it becomes part of our identity. We don’t need to think about it anymore, it’s simply becomes who we are.

Our circumstances become irrelevant when we practice proactive gratitude, because it needs no justification.

Proactive Gratitude and Love

Just as reactive gratitude is closely related to wealth, proactive gratitude is closely related to unconditional love.There are no attachments to circumstances or outcomes and there is no fear of loss or change.

Reactive gratitude is like listening the most beautiful song: You enjoy every chord, every bridge, and you know it will end soon, but it doesn’t matter because you understand that the ending is part of the experience. You feel grateful and moved even after the song has ended.

In the same manner, when you practice proactive gratitude, circumstances are irrelevant. You fall in love with life itself, with everything that it is, and with everything that isn’t.

When our feelings of gratitude are conditional upon temporary circumstances like our stuff, our job, and our relationships, our base identity doesn’t change.  But when we root our gratitude in something permanent, it becomes a permanent part of ourselves.  Instead of saying, “I am grateful for…” let’s just say, “I am grateful.”

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