Key to Prosperity -- Appreciation

Well, I've returned from a week in the wilderness (or at least at a campsite by a lake). It was a week without technological access of any kind (no computer, cell phone, radio, or TV). Instead there was a great deal of sun, water, dirt, fish, insects, and above all -- appreciation.

This past week I had an important realization: camping is all about appreciation. And appreciation, if you recall, is one of my keys to prosperity.

When you go out close to nature it's easier to cultivate a great appreciation for this wonderful world we live in. Nature is worth enjoying and appreciating for its own sake and it's easy to become distanced from it during day-to-day life. But while camping, you also appreciate basic necessities like fire, food, and clean water. You appreciate how your own actions contribute directly to your circumstances (you want food, you need fire; you want fire, collect kindling and chop wood). You appreciate how cool community is (either because you are absolutely alone, such as we were last camping trip or because you are in the midst of an equal and varied community of circumstance, as we were at the lake).

But after days of camping, you also begin to appreciate all the ease and luxury of civilized life. The ability to hop into a hot shower at any time. Heat without having to start a fire. Indoor plumbing. Soft beds. The Internet. All of the wonderful things that we tend to take for granted when we're in the midst of it.

Prosperity is about living a good life, but also an honest one. You have to constantly be asking yourself what really brings you joy and what's just fluff. When you strip down to a more basic level (and trust me, we don't do anything like backwoods camping at this point, we have plenty of gear) it's easier to make those calls. Switching contexts also causes a shift in perspective. -- whether that's time in the wilderness or in another state/country. You see that other people and places and lifestyles can be different, indeed are different. And that makes you more aware of how your life can be different as well.

We are, each of us, incredibly wealthy. Those of us in the Western world (particularly those with means to enjoy the Internet) have more material goods, more equality, more freedom, and more access to information than just about any people in history. We need to remember to feel appreciation and gratitude for the wealth we already have if we're going to embrace prosperity in our own lives. Without that appreciation, prosperity can just become another money game (earn more in order to buy more -- that's not what I think of as prosperous).

Useful Quotes on Appreciation*:

We can lessen attachment by contemplating impermanence. It is certain that whatever we're attached to will either change or be lost. A person may die or go away, a friend may become an enemy, a thief may steal our money. Even our body, to which we're most attached, will be gone one day. Knowing this not only helps to reduce our attachment, but gives us a greater appreciation of what we have while we have it. For example, there is nothing wrong with money, but if we're attached to it, we'll suffer when we lose it. Instead, we can appreciate it while it lasts, enjoy it and enjoy sharing it with others, and at the same time know it's impermanent. Then when we lose it, the emotional pendulum won't make as wide a swing toward sadness.
Gates to Buddhist Practice Book one of The Living Dharma Series: The Oral Teachings of Chagdud Tulku
Chagdud Rinpoche, Padma Publishing


The third practice, īshwara-pranidhāna, means devotion to God, but God as understood by the Hindu, as the perfect Being pervading all things, the life of the world, the inner impulse of which each one of us is a share. The aspirant must habituate himself to see that Principle in everything, to accept all as from that hand. "Everything that is received is a gift," says a Hindu proverb; more than that, it is a gift from God, presented with perfect wisdom, to be accepted, therefore, with cheerfulness and joy. Behind the eyes of every person he meets, the aspirant must also see the Divine. The common salutation of the Hindu, with the palms together, looks curious to the Westerner, as resembling prayer. It is prayer—the recognition of God within our fellow-man. It is appreciation, the opposite of depreciation. Ishwara-pranidhāna is in effect the full appreciation of everything. It makes for maximum attentiveness and thus maximum living.
Great Systems of Yoga
Ernest Wood, [1954]


How empty are our conceptions of Deity! We admit theoretically that God is good, omnipotent, omnipresent, infinite, and then we try to give information to this infinite Mind. We plead for unmerited pardon and for a liberal outpouring of benefactions. Are we really grateful for the good already received? Then we shall avail ourselves of the blessings we have, and thus be fitted to receive more. Gratitude is much more than a verbal expression of thanks. Action expresses more gratitude than speech.

If we are ungrateful for Life, Truth, and Love, and yet return thanks to God for all blessings, we are insincere and incur the sharp censure our Master pronounces on hypocrites. In such a case, the only acceptable prayer is to put the finger on the lips and remember our blessings. While the heart is far from divine Truth and Love, we cannot conceal the ingratitude of barren lives.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
Mary Baker Eddy


The aim of life is appreciation; there is no sense in not appreciating things; and there is no sense in having more of them if you have less appreciation of them.
Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936), British author. Autobiography, ch. 11 (1936).
Columbia Encyclopedia


The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do, and the more genuine may be one’s appreciation of fundamental things like home, and love, and understanding companionship.
Amelia Earhart (1897–1937), U.S. aviator, author. Quoted in Mary S. Lovell, The Sound of Wings, ch. 11 (1989).

* As always: Sacred Texts, BibleGateway.com, Bartleby.com, and I Ching online

Some of the quotes above are about gratitude rather than appreciation. The difference is that when you feel grateful for something, there's usually a recipient to that feeling. For many people this is gratitude to God. Appreciation, on the other hand, is like gratitude without an object. You don't have to even believe in any God in order to appreciate all the good things you have and that are in the world. You don't have to thank any entity, whether Divine or human (the government, your parents, and so on) in order to appreciate. In this regard, I believe that appreciation is a better goal in terms of being applicable to a large number of people (though I got no problem with gratitude, no sir).

While generosity is a challenge for me, I feel like appreciation is easier. From the wonder of nature to the wonder of the microwave oven -- not to mention the wonder of family and friends -- I feel great appreciation each day.

Ideas for enhancing appreciation:

• Go camping -- it's cheap and fun too!
• Write a list of things you are thankful for each week.
  
• Change context to gain perspective.
  
• Appreciate the little things AND the big things.