Sometimes to be grateful feels lousy. It might feel at times simplistic, old school, and maybe it feels like being the goody-goody in class. Especially when it comes to being grateful to the Creator.

The root of these inclinations is a misconception of gratitude. Gratitude is not something that just emerges when we receive something. It is also not a good way to be nice.

Gratitude is a generator. An electrical generator turns fuel into energy, so too does gratitude make life alive.

I think the word with the most definitions in English is the word “life.” When I checked, I saw eleven definitions! The many definitions for the word life indicate that life, in its essence, is indefinable.

There are many levels of living. The lowest one is “not being dead.” When life is void, it becomes a thing that is defined by not being dead. A person can increase the level of being alive. One of the most important tools to do so is through gratitude. Gratitude elevates and enriches our experiences to make them more alive and more exciting.

In the first few weeks of the Corona period, when I entered the supermarkets with the many empty shelves, fear gripped me. I wondered if the supply chain would stop and we would have little amounts of food.

When the supermarkets were again fully stocked, I remember marveling at the packed shelves. Wow! This is really amazing. We are blessed to have so many foods. It took quite a few weeks for that feeling to wear off. Now at least I have the memories of that feeling.

The gratitude made me live and enjoy a stacked supermarket much more than I would've normally. When we chew on a piece of bread slowly and enjoy the taste, we live it three dimensional instead of one dimensional. Being grateful means being alive more.

Gratitude is not only a good piece of life-advice, it's also an obligation. The constant blessings from G-d is because He wants us to enjoy them. Hence, G-d wants us to be grateful because that makes us enjoy the blessings many times more.

This brings us to the upcoming Jewish holiday, Rosh Hashanah. Which means the beginning of the year or, literally, the head of the year. This day is a judgment day where the Creator judges all of us for the past year and decides our fate of the coming year to its exact detail.

Imagine if at the end of last year's holiday we would have received a note from Above saying that we'd survive and thrive throughout the year, we'd be overjoyed. Well, now, at the end of the year we know what transpired during the past year and we have many many things to be grateful for. So before praying for a new year, we need to thank and be deeply grateful for the past year.

When we are grateful, we make ourselves as vessels to be able to receive the blessings of the new year. Because by being grateful we will be enjoying it more fully and connect with the Creator through all the blessings. Hence, all the blessings will become catalysts for deeper living and for connection with the One Above.

Especially this year that we saw a lot of hardship and suffering. At the same time, we all enjoyed many blessings too. This was a year like no other for good and for bad. We certainly don't want to erase it from our memories. Just the opposite, we want to learn and grow from the whole experience.

May we all merit an awesome new year full of abundance and blessings and full of gratitude and fulfilled living!!

Comments? Email me: Moshe@jaketv.tv.