Saturday, January 20, 2007
Location: Piikani Reservation, Alberta

Here on the Little Wolf Ranch, I’ve spent some time helping prepare the sweat lodge for upcoming sweats. Yesterday I went and cut wood, built the fire, arranged the rocks, and swept out the lodge.











Image: Heating rocks for a sweat

This morning, when we were in the sweat, something came to me... I’m SO grateful. I’ve said that so many times over the past seven months, but what occurred to me during the sweat, was not how grateful I am, but rather, how ungrateful the rest of the western world often seems.

Now, now, it’s not about being holier than thou, or anything like that. It just struck me, how, in the west, most of the time, we take so much for granted.

Home.
Food.
Electricity.
Cheap Fuel.
Cars.
Jobs.
Computers.
Cell Phones.
Entertainment.
The list goes on…

When was the last time we found ourselves truly grateful for any of the above luxuries? When was the last time we sat and were just utterly thankful for our car, or that new technological gadget, or even something so simple as potatoe chips? I think often we may find ourselves content, excited, and joyful, but I wonder, are we grateful? How often do we express our gratitude?

In many ways I feel we’ve built a society of entitlement, where we just expect to have most everything at our fingertips. (I think I'm mostly talking about my generation and those coming up behind us.) And again, I know it’s not black and white, we still have to work hard, and there are still haves and have-nots, but for most, life is pretty great.* (or is it?)

What I wonder is, as we build a reality where almost everyone just HAS as a birthright, what values then become the norm? As we find ourselves far up the hierarchy ladder of needs, what then makes us feel grateful?

Are we losing touch with gratitude? I wonder.

peace,
d

*I’m wondering, maybe life isn’t all that great. Maybe we’re all so tied up and trapped in this rat-maze-reality that we are actually quite very sad, with little to feel truly grateful for. Maybe we’re surface rich, but depth poor. Maybe we feel entitled as part of the sedation process; filling our world with ‘things’ to distract us from the difficult choices that may lead to our true happiness.

Either way I think the answer is to get back in touch with gratitude. If you don’t feel grateful, it may be time to reflect upon the reality you've built for yourself.