When I first heard of this idea, a decade or
more ago, I was in a psychological place where I was learning more and more
about the idea of gratitude.
But, at the same time, I was pretty well down
the road to my secularist, contra-metaphysical philosophical naturalist stance
of today. I had tried “working with” ideas of “spirituality” but found what I
was seeing promoted under that guise was New Agey-type metaphysics that, even
if technically not religious, was indeed metaphysical and impossible to square
with my re-emerging philosophical naturalism.
But, I was still trying to wrestle with this
issue.
Having heard the phrase “an attitude of
gratitude” in both New Age-type settings and from traditional ministers, and it
being, for various reasons, an idea that I agreed with, I was trying to figure
out how to be grateful if there wasn’t anyone to whom to be grateful.
Finally, I realized that I was mentally enshackled
by the New Agey “present situations” that I had recently been in, plus my
childhood religious preacher’s kid background.
Instead, why couldn’t I simply have an “attitude
of gratitude” without a personal object for my gratitude?
And, so I do today. Little mental tools such as
reminding myself of three good things that have happened for/to me today,
especially if I had an active part in any of them, help this process.
