There is nothing more pathetic than being unable to feel gratitude
Since the beginning of this year, earthquakes have been occurring one after another.
Just the other day, an earthquake with a seismic intensity of lower 6 occurred in Ehime and Kochi.
A sudden earthquake at a late hour, a time when most people were likely already asleep...
I was in the middle of writing an article to post on note at that very moment.
I live in the Kansai region, and I felt a tremor of about seismic intensity 2 here as well.
I wondered, did a large earthquake happen somewhere? Or was it just a random tremor?
When I found out about the earthquake through breaking news on my smartphone,
I felt a tightening in my chest and an indescribable sense of unease at the magnitude of the shaking.
There have been frequent earthquakes before this as well.
There have really been so many since the start of this year...
Every time a large earthquake occurs in various places, my heart aches when I think of the people who were affected locally and suddenly exposed to a crisis.
I myself was a victim of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake 29 years ago, lost my home, and was exposed to a life-threatening situation, which is why I vividly remember what happened to me at that time.
Thinking that there are people experiencing that very situation right now,
I can only imagine how difficult it must be...
I happen to be living peacefully with nothing wrong right now,
and I am far away from this recent earthquake,
but I even feel apologetic about that.
It is also an opportunity to once again feel the luxury of being able to spend our days without incident, and the gratitude for this daily life.
When I was affected by the disaster, the house I was living in at the time was almost completely destroyed.
I was trapped inside the collapsed house, unable to escape.
My grandmother was hit directly in the head by a falling chest of drawers.
She suffered a serious injury with bleeding from her head.
Fortunately, my parents and I were unharmed, but
the inside of the house I saw when I woke up, surprised by the earthquake, was in an unbelievable state.
The floor had fallen through, the stairs had collapsed, and furniture was overturned everywhere...
The ceiling in the spot where we were barely managed to hold up...
And it was pitch black...
I was in a state of shock, wondering what had happened.
I knew immediately that we were in a dangerous situation.
No matter how pitch black it is, when humans are in a critical situation, they can see what is in front of them vividly.
In the darkness, I found the dog I was keeping at the time and held it in my arms. And I didn't know when the whole house might collapse and kill us. It was a moment when I prepared myself for death.
Even when I tried to open the front door or windows to escape, nothing would open.
It was an old house, so all the roof tiles had fallen off and blocked the entrance and windows.
There was no way to escape from the inside.
However, the neighbors, who realized that only our family had not come outside, cleared away the roof tiles and broke the entrance and windows from the outside to save us.
In the terrible situation at the time, rescue teams could not come immediately,
and we had no choice but to manage on our own.
I am still grateful today that we were saved thanks to our neighbors.
Because that memory remains so intensely,
I have thought since then that it is not guaranteed that we can spend every day peacefully and as usual.
Tomorrow, a sudden earthquake might happen again...
Life might change completely...
Something life-threatening might happen...
Being able to spend time peacefully is not something to be taken for granted.
“Think about how you will live today, how you will live better, thinking that you might die tomorrow.”
This is something I sometimes say to younger colleagues in the same industry, people I have contracts with, people who come to me for advice, and acquaintances.
Because we don't know what will happen from day to day, we must live each day fully.
Unfortunately, when daily life continues as usual, humans'
gratitude for their current life fades away.
And even if just a small unpleasant thing happens, they start complaining about everything,
and their feelings and thoughts turn only toward wanting more, wanting to gain more, or wanting things to be easier.
Demands and desires increase, saying “more, more,” and they start worrying about luxurious things.
For example,
“My child or husband (or wife) won't do as I want,” or
“I wish they would do more, they aren't very thoughtful,” or
“That child can do such and such, but my child can't.”
In a daily life where such words are taken for granted, they easily come out as requests or complaints as if they were natural things.
Humans are, sadly, greedy creatures, so
if they have a place to live, food to eat, enough money to live on,
and some time to themselves,
they start thinking only about things like
“I wish it were more like this,”
“I want better things to happen,”
“I want things to go as I expect.”
Everyone has their own hardships and difficult times in life, whether large or small, but
as long as you are in a safe environment without danger to your life and in a somewhat stable living situation,
new desires, demands, and complaints will always emerge.
This is the troublesome part of being human.
Starting from New Year's Day this year, there was the Noto Peninsula Earthquake, followed by an aircraft accident...
And the days that followed, with continuing aftershocks and large earthquakes occurring one after another in other prefectures...
The images of the disaster-stricken areas and the aftermath of the accidents that I see on the news are all so painful that I want to close my eyes.
While watching such situations, I hear people saying things like:
"Working is exhausting, and while it's better to have more days off, I still want money to play with."
"(My child, husband, wife, subordinate, friend, etc.) won't do as I want."
"I want a good job, a good position, and a high salary all at once."
"I want to make easy money on social media or YouTube and stand out more than anyone else."
Or there are those who rely on welfare or various services available in society, trying to gain an advantage in terms of money through various allowances, discounts, and subsidies,
and those who complain about trivial matters to get the services or extra support they want,
When I see people who openly express such greedy words and actions, I find it lamentable.
Even while you are doing that, there are people who are suffering tremendously right now,
people who cannot even ensure the safety of their daily lives and do not know what will happen today or tomorrow,
and I sometimes even want to tell them that there are people whose anxiety is only growing.
It is human nature for desires and demands to emerge one after another without end,
and if I am not careful, I too could end up drowning in such things.
That is precisely why I must focus on my current situation, the state of the world,
and holistic compassion,
and return to the question, 'Is my way of thinking correct?'
As I mentioned earlier, being able to spend your days in peace is not a given.
Life is such that you never know what will happen when.
It is not limited to earthquakes; accidents, illnesses, and the like can occur at any time.
Having one's life suddenly change, or perhaps dying suddenly,
is a possibility for everyone.
First of all, be grateful for being alive.
Being in a safe environment,
being able to lead a stable life for the time being, even if the degree varies from person to person,
having children and family healthy and right in front of you,
being able to talk to acquaintances,
being able to work,
being able to spend your days without illness, and so on...
There is an endless list of things, and we need to feel more gratitude and happiness for being able to live what we call our usual daily lives.
When the part of you that is driven by human desire surfaces,
you must check if your way of thinking, your sudden thoughts, and your words and actions in life and work
have forgotten gratitude
have become extravagant
have become selfish
Unless you can notice such things immediately and reflect on them,
you cannot be called an independent and self-disciplined person.
If you easily lean into greed and self-indulgence, justifying them and expressing them openly, you still have a long way to go as a person.
I, too, reflect on this daily.
The pain of others... even if it is someone whose face and name you do not know,
thinking about someone's situation and feelings, imagining and sensing their hardships and pain,
finding what you can do to make yourself and others happy,
and furthermore, living each day with a humble attitude,
having a sense of gratitude for even the smallest things,
aren't these the things that are important?
Even if you can say it in words, it is quite difficult to do.
Precisely because it is not easy, you must keep thinking about it.
Even if your desires have surfaced,
even if you find yourself complaining a lot,
even if things don't go as you wish,
even if you cannot maintain a humble heart, at least hold onto a feeling of gratitude.
People who cannot feel gratitude are poor in heart, lonely, and unfortunate.
Thinking that everything is a given, that it is natural to have things done for you,
that your demands should be met, and that the reality or the other person is at fault when they are not,
there is nothing more pathetic than thinking only such things and forgetting gratitude.
People with such thoughts cannot even say "I'm sorry."
Because their own way of thinking is the "standard."
You must not become such a pathetic person.
It is fine if a person has things they cannot do, things they are bad at, or things they lose out on.
It is fine if you don't get the results you expected in what you are working on now.
There should be no need to complain about that.
There is no need to have high expectations.
Whether it is studying or working, just try your hardest at everything,
while experiencing some hardships and failures,
sensing a part of your own weakness and facing it,
it is important to live your life to the fullest.
Hardship makes people stronger.
It is precisely because you don't know when you will die that you can be desperate about what you want to do.
It is precisely because you don't know when you will die that you can enjoy things.
It is because I am grateful for being alive right now that I think this way.