Cattāri Brahmavihārā

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmosley/2019/11/27/the-business-impact-of-gratitude/

While many of us tend to view and express gratitude in relation to our personal lives, gratitude in the workplace is especially critical because it satisfies the higher psychological need to feel a sense of belonging to something greater than ourselves–to feel a sense of meaning at work.

If you do not contemplate death in the morning, the morning is wasted. If you do not contemplate death in the afternoon, the afternoon is wasted. If you do not contemplate death in the evening, the evening is wasted.

It can be so easy to believe the voices that complain, criticize and fault find in our minds. It is so easy to casually hate the photos and posts of acquaintances and friends on FB and IG. But why? What do we gain?

What do I gain by begrudging my childhood friend her family’s vacation? Nothing but bitterness. I must, instead, train the mind to rejoice in the success of others until mudita becomes second-nature.

Our enemies provide us with a precious opportunity to practice patience and love. We should have gratitude toward them.”

-Dalai Lama XIV

This is an attitude that I’m familiar with but that requires much more practice. It is difficult to feel gratitude for those who make our lives difficult but it is indubitably true that we could never cultivate patience if we were only surrounded by people who were kind and loving towards us. Besides, how ridiculous is it to imagine that we’d ever be in such a situation?

After taking a series of kicks to my left thigh last night I was unsure if I would be about to make it to my 7:30 kickboxing session. I forced myself to run my normal 5k this morning in order to try and get blood flowing through the knotted muscles but the rest of the day involved me sitting at a desk.

Regardless, I knew that I wouldn’t be satisfied having given in to pain and, since I knew I would not be causing myself lasting harm, I resolved to meet Mo (my coach) at the boxing gym.

Resolved not to complain and to do whatever he suggested I followed through and behaved almost as if my leg weren’t cramped and painful throughout the full hour of kicking and punching.

It was a small victory for my B resolve and a reminder that we are all capable of doing much more on a regular basis than we dove ourselves credit for.