Giving Thanks

Gratitude
is a prerequisite for happiness,
but not happiness itself.

Give thanks
for everything received,
for both the blessing and the curse
of material existence.

Say thank you for the clouds,
even when
they do not bring rain
or relieve the noonday heat.

Giving thanks,
is innate in human nature;
without gratitude
the human soul shrivels
like a grape
left too long in the sun.