Many of us are thankful for what we have. We all live in the Bay Area of California. We all have access to clean water and fresh food. We all go to a good school. Many of us have amazing friends and family that take care of us. Many of us live in a house and have a car. All of us are privileged in one way or another. All of us have a lot to be thankful for.
In other words, we have an excess of material wealth to be thankful for. However, we have an abundance of material wealth only in comparison to others. Many people don’t have as stable of a financial situation or as many opportunities as we have and yet, they still express more gratitude than us. I believe that thankfulness shouldn’t come from a stance of comparing material wealth. Unfortunately, that’s typically how gratitude works. If I have more of something, I can therefore be more thankful. While that makes logical sense, again, I believe thankfulness shouldn’t be based on comparison. Thankfulness should be a consistent attitude and a built in character trait. Embodying thankfulness is different from simply being a thankful person.
When describing thankfulness, I think that someone should be a thankful person instead of a person who is thankful. Overall, I believe thankfulness should be an attitude, not an action or a thought based on comparison.