“Only through gratitude can we overcome the imperfections of the world.”

When we strive for perfection – or the illusion of such a state – we tend to demand more and more of ourselves. Only by setting the bar high enough and constantly improving ourselves can we make progress that raises the quality of our efforts to the highest level. We have all heard this idea before, haven’t we? But what if we get it wrong? What if, through our pursuit of an ever-better version of ourselves, we tend to overlook the richness of the present moment, and we involuntarily engage in a rat race? Why does this matter as we create new educational programs on Responsible Conduct in Research?

We live in challenging times; in the midst of a global pandemic, we are confronted with new, even more damaging reports of climate change, global temperatures are rising faster than we predicted. We are running out of time to take policy action that could have a significant impact on the modern production of goods and thus reduce our carbon footprint. So should we throw up our hands and capitulate? That is not an option for any reasonable person. Before we try to change the policies of our nation states, we should pay attention to our local consumption. Gratitude can change our lives, both on a personal and societal level.

As we set out to reach our full potential, we will make mistakes. We will miss the mark, we will often fail to find the optimal solution, and we will repeat the challenge until it is perfect, and so we will consume resources.

When we set out to explore the different parts of the world, we will use different means of transportation: planes, trains, ships, and now even rockets. We will enjoy the comfort of modern vehicles that can protect us from unexpected dangers, we will consume energy.
When we set out to impress our fellow man with new gadgets, new designer clothes, houses, cars, facelifts, etc., we stimulate the economy to produce more goods, consume more energy, and increase its production footprint.

“Only through gratitude can we overcome the imperfections of the world”.
Gratitude may not be a sexy product on the glamorous street, but it is a viable response to our growing desires. Gratitude highlights all that is already there: all the material goods sitting on basement shelves, all the time we have wasted (scrolling through the phone, waiting for … what, exactly?), all the heartfelt people we once met but never find the time to reconnect with, all the energy flowing through our bodies. Not now, I hear you say, if I manage to achieve this goal, I can relax and enjoy life, we tell ourselves all too often.

Gratitude is a state of mind. If we are not grateful for all the good, beautiful and true that is already present in our imperfect world, we will inevitably overlook anything “perfect” that may cross our path in the future, don’t you think?

Gratitude is a strength, not a weakness. Being grateful for little things, events, the shining eyes of others, and all the other big and little imperfect things that make up our world means that a person is strong enough to recognize the reality beyond the superficial, a person is strong enough to deal with their own imperfections and those of others.

In time, gratitude focuses on both the past and the future. Looking to the past, we can be grateful to our families for the uniqueness of our own unhappiness[1]; to our ancestors for allowing us to enjoy all the goods of their sacrifice; to the scientific community for sharing knowledge with each other so that we can flourish as human beings.

As we look to the future, we direct our gratitude to the generations to come: We are grateful to our children for sharing their smiles and love with us, we are grateful for our plans that reach into the future (we are able to anticipate the contingencies of life), we are grateful for all the unexpected joys that we know little about and will experience someday (we are hopeful).

Gratitude is at the core of our personal values, it is integral to our worldview and aspirations: We can even say that gratitude is “integral” to personal “integrity” – when our actions are not so much a legal requirement as a basic human attitude. When gratitude and integrity are intimately connected, we express our own dignity by respecting the dignity of others, those before us and those behind us.

When we are dealing with young people, with our students, when we are trying to pass on what little knowledge we have to our bright, creative, inventive minds that tend to be suspicious of everything and everyone, it is best to be grateful. Because gratitude is a force that seeks to overcome imperfections, gratitude is a state of mind that acknowledges all the relevant information of the present, because gratitude transcends time and negates the rat race of our efforts; because we are grateful that we can rise through the imperfections of our world.

[1] “All happy families are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina.

Feature image author – @yanalya