I never seem to stop needing reminders to broaden my perspective and lighten up. I can get disturbed about something transitory and basically unimportant on a daily basis!

I easily forget I’ve never missed a meal in my life; I’ve always had hot tap water at my fingertips, a heated home, and indoor plumbing. I still remember when I was 5 years old and we were showing my grandfather around our newly built home. He had immigrated from the Middle East in the early 1900’s and had made his way in the US as a street peddler. When we proudly showed him how our home had a second bathroom (a 1/2 bath), he said wryly, “Oh, now you can sh*t lots!” We laughed hysterically, but that was the first time in my life that I had considered living conditions outside of the American Dream.

We who live in conditions of material wealth often find that it becomes a chore to maintain a genuine gratitude for the miracles we have in our lives. It was considered a great contribution to society when Oprah suggested keeping a gratitude journal! Here in the US – where so many of us have gadgets, high fashion gear and good food available 24/7 – we have to really work at being grateful.

But I don’t suggest trying to be grateful in order to be a “good” person or to avoid guilt. I recommend being grateful for the “selfish” reason that a lack of gratitude weakens our mind and our character.

Can we be happy with ourselves – regardless of what is happening with our stuff?

And what can we call this phenomenon – this way in which our sense of well-being is all mixed up with what’s happening to our stuff? In my line of work, I consider it to be a hypnotic trance.

We give ourselves a hypnotic suggestion (and we do this more or less constantly) that our happiness and well-being depend on our stuff. Plus, if we’re not happy with our stuff, we may even begin to think life is pointless. And we can usually find other people to agree with us!

It is not easy, when we are so used to relying on our stuff, to enjoy it with detachment. A sign of character strength and self confidence is the ability to our maintain mental composure and enthusiasm regardless of what’s going on with our stuff.

This challenge of over-reliance on our material goods for comfort and self-acceptance has been going on for quite a long time, hasn’t it? In  George Carlin’s classic comic routine, he talks about the absurdity of this relationship with our”Stuff”.

May we all cultivate inner strength so that we benefit ourselves and everyone with our calm and generosity.