Lack of Gratitude and a sense of dissatisfaction

 Lack of Gratitude and a sense of dissatisfaction

A young man who was dissatisfied with his life decided to meet a monk to seek some enlightening words. He approached the monk at the monastery on the hilltop to share his feelings of discontent.

The young man told the monk, “I am not satisfied with my life.”

The monk replied, “I will ask you a series of rapid-fire questions, and then you can give me your answers.”

·       Can you see? 

·       Can you talk? 

·       Can you hear? 

·       Can you eat? 

·       Can you drink? 

·       Do you have a job?”

 

The young man answered “Yes” to all the questions, yet he said, “I still don’t feel a sense of accomplishment.”

The monk responded, “When you have your basic needs met and a job to support yourself, but still feel dissatisfied, it indicates a lack of gratitude for what you have.”

The monk continued, “What do you mean by accomplishment?”

The young man explained, “At the end of the day, I want to feel that I have done something worthwhile.”

The monk asked, “Do you start your day by identifying what you want to accomplish?”

The young man replied, “Not really; it’s not very concrete.”

The monk smiled and said, “When you don’t have a goal and a plan to achieve it, you will never feel satisfied in life. Unless you define what you want to accomplish each day, you will not work toward it. Instead, you may end up working for others or engaging in trivial activities that won’t provide you with a sense of achievement.”

 

He concluded, “Unless you have a concrete goal for the day, you will never experience a sense of accomplishment in life. Start by listing what you want to achieve, and move toward those goals. You will find yourself leading a life where satisfaction flows like a free stream of water, with peace surrounding you like fresh air, and harmony resonating within you.”

M.L. Narendra Kumar