Today is World Gratitude day. Seriously, I kid you not. Bet you had no idea. And why should we seeing as how we are generally so ungrateful and while we keep rabbiting on about counting our blessings we never really do that…until things go wrong and then we whimper.

The very fact that we have to mark a day to acknowledge gratitude is itself an irony. Think of all the ingrates in our lives and those we pamper and give refuge to. Think of all the ingratitude we have shown. Oh yes, let’s not be shrinking violets, we add our bit to the stink. The human race being so adept at souring gratitude into contempt and being unforgiving towards all those who have helped us.

Here are my thoughts on it. No good deed goes unpunished. We hate people to whom we have to tell a lie. If we change someone’s life he or she will never forgive us.  There is no such thing as eternal gratitude, don’t expect it, if you have done a good thing, move on, you didn’t do it for gratitude.
Our lives are littered with the shards of broken promises, shattered faiths, torn trust, all that stuff and yet we soldier on, still hoping that somewhere we might find a trace of grace.

So, take five minutes off today and be thankful for the cards you were dealt. That you have your health. That there is money in the bank. That you can splurge. That you never go hungry. That your kids haven’t betrayed you and you haven’t let down your parents or sloughed them off like snakeskin. Safeguard your friends, they are the best thing you have, don’t sell them cheaply.

And if someone stretched out his hand and helped you up, don’t bite that hand even if you cannot shake it. That’s gratitude.