grateful

Today's word complements "thanks," as it denotes the mental state behind sincere thanks. To be grateful is an excellent feeling, but not without its vulnerability. The grateful are so because they are forced to contemplate an alternate reality, one in which some good deed went undone, or some undone vile deed took place. In cases of particularly deep or serious gratitude, this contemplation can often be daunting or unpleasant, as a person comprehends how easily things might have been different, and how near they came to being so. Not to tie in too many former posts, when we are grateful to no one in particular, the feeling can be thickly caught up in chance, and the consideration of luck in some form. We are often grateful to the universe, to whatever cosmic force has thrown things our way. Regardless of whether or not we even believe in such things, we are often grateful despite ourselves.