![\"\"](\"https:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3279\/2695491491_ec13d6db1b.jpg?v=0\")
<\/a>Today was \u201cone of those days\u201d for me; <\/span>for some reason I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, grumpily trudged off to work, and found myself continuously irritated with simple tasks and obstacles.<\/p>\nThat is, until about 5:30. That\u2019s when I got to go home for dinner and to prepare this little piece on gratitude.<\/p>\n
Now, my first thought is (and yours may be similar), \u201cif you\u2019re such a good meditator<\/span>, Buddhist, spiritual guy, you shouldn<\/span>\u2019t have days like this.\u201d Well, guess what, it happens.<\/p>\n Having said all that, what\u2019s left? Gratitude. <\/span>You know, one of the most important words in Buddhism<\/a> is Samma<\/span> <\/span>(Pali<\/span>) or Samyak<\/span> <\/span>(Sanskrit). It is often translated as \u201cright\u201d or \u201ccorrect\u201d but it really means \u201cbalanced\u201d or \u201ctogether in harmony.\u201d The Buddha recognized that life is filled with dukkha<\/span><\/span>, suffering, but he knew quite well that it was also filled with sukkha<\/span><\/span>, or joy.<\/p>\n For spiritual progress in our lives, we need to find balance between these, balance between the tough stuff that simply must be accepted, and the joys with which we can practice gratitude.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.virginmedia.com\/images\/forrest_gump.jpg\")
<\/a>That\u2019s often the first step we need to take in developing gratitude: acceptance. <\/span>\u201cShit happens,\u201d as the great Forrest Gump<\/span> once said. Where ever you are emotionally: mad, sad, tired, uptight, exhausted, and so on \u2013 it\u2019s the perfect place to begin moving forward, toward healing, toward wholeness. Accept your grumpy days, accept your difficult moments, accept the big things in your life that cause you pain. It\u2019s a practice though, don\u2019t expect to be able to do it all at once.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3031\/2695489315_1b23641001.jpg?v=0\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/7907151-6429141912136953464?l=americanbuddhist.blogspot.com\")
<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"