Question: How can I have more gratitude in my day-to-day life?

Sri Chinmoy: Do only one thing: you have to compare where you as an individual are now with where you were eight years ago. Many good and bad things have happened to you in eight years, but on the whole you will see that eight years ago you were not even at the foot of the realisation-tree. You were millions of miles away from your realisation. Right now, you have not only stood at the foot of the tree, but you have climbed up to a considerable height. While climbing you may have had all kinds of misgivings, but still you are there. Some people who had fear while climbing have fallen down; again, others have now become afraid and cannot climb any higher. Fear, doubt and anxiety have also come to you. But you have to ask your inner being, "Am I at the same place where I was eight years ago?" The answer will be, "No. At that time I was not even anywhere near the tree." At this point, gratitude comes. We have to see the positive aspect of what we have achieved and what we have grown into. I always say that the past is dust. The past has given us frustration, not illumination. But at the same time we have to know the difference between the past, which is dust, and the present, which is not dust. We have taken quite a few steps forward in the past few years. So if we have become something which we were not before, then there is every possibility that we will become something infinitely better in the future. That is why we offer our gratitude to the Supreme.

From:Sri Chinmoy,The significance of a smile, Agni Press, 1977
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