thanks! indeed

Scotty's taking a psychology class this semester to fill some credit hours. It's suppose to be an "easy" 3 credits, and I suppose it is when it's stacked up against an Architecture class and a Physics class. Anyhow, this Psych class is online and requires a lot of typing, so I am there.  I figured out a while ago that if I am to be an effective typist/editor I have to know some of the subject matter, it helps.  So I glean bits and pieces of info from this class.  The actual title is Enhancing Happiness & Life Satisfaction.  Sounds like a class for all of us huh? The text includes a book titled, "thanks!  How the new science of gratitude can make you happier" by Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D.  When Scott brought it home it caught my eye and I've been wanting to read it.  So here is a little excerpt today that resonated with me, tell me what you think:

     ...there is a more basic reality about gratitude that we can learn from children.  When we were children, we had no illusion of self-sufficiency.  We were aware of our dependence on our parents for survival, security, and comfort.  As we grew, we were taught to look more and more to ourselves for the meeting of our needs.  Eventually, we came to believe in the myth of our own self-sufficiency.  For many people it takes disease, disability, danger, or death to challenge this illusion of self-sufficiency. We all begin life dependent on others, and most of us end life dependent on other.  In between, we have roughly sixty years or so of unacknowledged dependency.  Gratitude takes us outside ourselves where we see ourselves as part of a larger, intricate network of sustaining relationships, relationships that are mutually reciprocal.  Modern psychology has placed great emphasis upon individual autonomy and self-sufficiency.  Gratitude requires, however, that we affirm our dependency on others and recognize we need to receive that which we cannot provide for ourselves.