Gratitude – a key to satisfaction?

It’s Sunday morning and I’ve just come back from a slow 5km jog along the peaceful banks of the river near my home.  Dog walkers were meandering along. Swans were gliding majestically along the mirror-like surface of the wide sections of the waterway.  The sun was out and all was well.

It was the second consecutive day I’ve run – the first time that has happened since before my accident last summer.  Yesterday’s run was more frantic – a different 5k route but run in race conditions.  Normally on Saturday that would have been normal – with parkrun a fixture on my weekly calendar for several years.

But this weekend is different. I’m aware of a profound sense of gratitude that I can get out and enjoy the air, enjoy my running and enjoy feeling… alive.

It’s a little while since I’ve blogged here, but the world has changed again.  My mother-in-law passed away just before Christmas, and then, more recently, we’ve had the COVID-19 lockdown.  My wife and I were both sick near the beginning of the lockdown  (probably COVID-19) and that ruled out any kind of activity for around three weeks.

I’m thankful for…

• Today’s consecutive running streak, which left me with a profound sense of gratitude and as a result, a sense of peace.
• I’m thankful that I can run at all.  As I stepped out of my front door this morning I remembered that my accident last August could easily have left me paralysed or worse.
• I’m thankful that I’ve recovered some level of fitness, so that slow running is now a pleasure rather than a struggle.
• I’m thankful that I live in a location where I have access to such wonderful running routes – I can choose a flat or hilly route depending upon how I feel.
• I’m thankful that, although my mother-in-law is no longer with us and we are still grieving, she is in a better place and, as a high-risk person with medical issues, she did not have to face COVID-19 or social isolation stress.  My thoughts are still with those who’ve suffered a loss at this time or who are struggling with being on their own.
• Finally, I’m much more thankful for the basic things in life.  We have food on the table and a roof over our head.  I don’t have very much income at present but I have time together with my wife and bizarrely, the imperative to connect with relatives over videoconference means that we’re talking with our dispersed family more during the lockdown.

So, lockdown or not, I’m reminded that gratitude is a fundamental part of satisfaction –   being thankful for what I have and what I can do, not anxious about what I don’t have or can’t do.

What can you be thankful for?

The spiritual parallels

As a Christian, I’m conscious that the principle of gratitude goes much deeper. 

My first awareness of Christian gratitude goes back to the primary school prayer said before school dinner – “For what we are about the receive may the Lord make us truly grateful…Amen”

However, after coming into a commitment to Christ in my teens, I’ve learned that there are numerous Biblical instructions to be thankful.  It may be that the above prayer has taken 40 years to be fulfilled!

I now realise that it’s not just a good suggestion – it’s a principle we are urged to grab hold of, as a key part to living the way God intended us to.

We are encouraged to come to worship God with thanksgiving (Psalm 100).  In writing to the Thessalonians the Apostle Paul told us to  “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  This was, alongside “Rejoice always, pray continually”, his daily philosophy.  

Separately, writing to the Philippians, he noted:

“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

So, if we want to be truly satisfied, it’s not a case of having stuff.  It’s not even a case of conjuring up a ‘positive mental attitude’. 

It’s about lifestyle habits of thinking that weave gratitude with the inner joy of knowing Christ, reflected back to him in worship and prayer.

And so I will continue to be thankful for all I am and have.