 He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has Epictetus This is a quote that alludes to the necessity of gratitude If you're living in the first world in 2017 you're living in conditions that are far superior to those that a king would have lived in a thousand years ago we have the Education we need to help us get rid of any illnesses. We have an abundance of food There's no need for you to go and hunt your own food. You can go to a supermarket We have Freedom to choose what we want. We're not forced to do anything from birth We can choose what we want. We can pursue our goals to our heart's desire We're living in such great Circumstances and yet we always want more It is the human condition to want more. We want a bigger house We want a faster car. We want more money. We want more holidays. We want a more beautiful wife We want smarter children always more But that is the problem you see if you train yourself to always be looking for more To always want something that you do not have you're literally training your mind to Process the world in this way so that when you do attain The things that you wanted when you do get the bigger house when you do get the nicer car When you do get the beautiful wife, it won't be enough You have trained yourself you have created synaptic pathways in your brain to always look for problems to always look for something else You forgot to train gratitude gratitude is seeing your circumstances and seeing The greatness in it and seeing the value of your situation Being happy with your circumstances Having gratitude does not mean that you can Get rid of all your ambition. It means that you are content You see what you have and you are happy for it. You understand that You could be in a far worse situation where you didn't have these things This increases your overall happiness in life The simple act of being grateful being grateful for your life being grateful for being able to breathe being able to Live in the country that you're living in having the opportunities that you have Gratitude Increases the quality of your life. It trains you to be happy when you attain those things that you desire If you cannot have gratitude now, you will never have gratitude regardless of what worldly items or goals you attain So be grateful