When things go our way, it’s relatively easy to feel grateful. But when things don’t go our way, not only is it difficult to feel grateful, but also it is easy to feel resentful. How can we avoid such feelings? By reminding ourselves that just because things are not going our way, that does not necessarily mean that things are going chaotically or destructively.

The Bhagavad-gita (11.33) indicates that there is a higher purpose for which things move and that we always have an opportunity to play our part in that higher purpose. Even when things are not going our way, the all-benevolent divinity, Krishna, is still working to take things to a better place and, more importantly, to take us to a better place. We may not immediately understand how the things that seem to be going so wrong will eventually lead to something good. But we can surely understand that being resentful will never lead us to anywhere good; it will only blind us to any doors that might open for us to progress toward a better place. 

That’s why when things don’t go our way, rather than fixating on the way things are presently going, we can use our intelligence and energy for striving to be a harmonious participant in the divine plan for universal welfare. If we prayerfully and purposefully seek insight about how we can make things better in whatever situation has befallen us, we may see a few simple and doable things that might make things better. If we keep taking those steps steadily, we will find ourselves moving towards firmer ground. Eventually we will see through the chaos a pattern emerging. And gratitude will enter and enrich our heart. 

Pertinently, the Bhagavad Gita (17.16) urges us to cultivate contentment as a mental discipline, thereby avoiding resentfulness and progressing toward gratefulness.  

Think it over:

  • When things don’t go our way, what’s wrong with our default reaction?
  • What Bhagavad Gita insight can help us to avoid resentment when our plans seem to be falling apart?
  • How can we move from being resentful to being grateful? 

Audio explanation of the article is here: https://gitadaily.substack.com/p/how-to-be-grateful-when-things-dont

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17.16: And satisfaction, simplicity, gravity, self-control and purification of one’s existence are the austerities of the mind.

 

How to be grateful when things don’t go our way?

To know more about this verse, please click on the image