Is There Only So Much?

I had a conversation with a gentleman today about gratitude and he asked if he could shake my hand. Of course I obliged, but while shaking my hand he said, "You're a better man than me. There's only so much I can be grateful for."

An inspiring response failed to manifest itself and the gentleman walked away seemingly aware of something that he would rather not share. Well beyond his prime but nonetheless gregarious, there was a polite cynicism; a distrust in my passionate belief in the power of gratitude. He smiled at me as if I were naive. Perhaps he was kind enough to save any words of wisdom that might undermine my enthusiasm or perhaps not, instead leaving me to discover in my own time an awakening that would ultimately see me become just as cynical.

Needless to say, his response left me questioning what people are truly grateful for and how, over the course of a lifetime, does gratitude really play out. The sum of this man's reality, whatever that reality may be, has given him reason to deliberately limit that which he is grateful for. Even if his statement was made in jest, his words left a lasting impression. 

To say there is something wrong with his allocation of gratitude is asinine. To each their own. But how many people out there--all over the world--feel or believe that there is only so much to be grateful for? Does transcending the limitations of our ability to appreciate require more time, effort and energy than many or most can spare? Do less than ideal or perhaps even terrible circumstances warrant a cap being placed on what we are or should be grateful for? Is it perhaps just an aspect of the human design to enable and accept some ingratitude in response to life as we individually experience it?

Answers to these questions may elude me forever, but this I am certain of: being grateful is a personal choice of which the limitations are solely controlled by us as individuals. External influences can be used as an excuse but the measure of a persons expressed gratitude is completely hinged upon how compelled you are to give thanks for what you are, what you have, what you have experienced and the life you live.

Be as grateful as you want to be or perhaps not. You are free to believe and behave as you chose. But know that life is better when gratitude is expressed and there are no boundaries inhibiting that gratitude from permeating the world around you.