Staying Committed to the Grateful Life

Love wholeheartedly, be surprised, give thanks and praise—then you will discover the fullness of your life.

Br. David Steindl-Rast

Athletes have a lot to teach us about commitment and endurance. The next gold medal winners in the Winter Olympics are hard at work practicing and preparing physically, mentally, and spiritually every day. I remember being glued to the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics as a teen and watching Dan Jansen win the gold medal with lightning speed. His ferocious speed on the ice was preceded six years earlier with defeat in Calgary, hours after learning about the death of his sister. Dan showed us what grief looks like in ‘88 and ‘92. He went on to show us the power of commitment in ‘94.

Being committed to a goal or task requires full engagement, which is not easily done in these distractible times. It’s not just technology that makes modern life hard to navigate and remain committed. It’s also the immeasurable grief that accompanies a changing world, where possessing strong values appears increasingly obsolete and futile. But obsolete and futile they are not; not if we are steadfast in our commitment to the work before us. 

Looking back, what commitments have you made and how have they changed, evolved, or expanded? Commitments, as you’re likely observing in your reflections, are tricky. We commit to many things in life: jobs, spouses, family, children, vocations, friends, and community to name a few. Some of these commitments are for a season. Some are broken. Some fall off without us even noticing they’ve expired.

We find ourselves in urgent times that require a wholehearted commitment. Nothing about your commitment to your values can be seasonal or half-hearted right now. Br. David Steindl-Rast rightly says, “Spiritual practice has shown to increase your consciousness. And we have to get to another level in a hurry because if we don’t, we are in for a great deal of problems.”  The spiritual practice of living gratefully transforms us because it is first a commitment to ourselves. This commitment to a grateful life is the way to expand our consciousness. And this expansion is what helps us accept life’s invitation to love and serve others. We commit to a grateful life to elevate our consciousness and to serve others. Br. David also says, “Love wholeheartedly, be surprised, give thanks and praise—then you will discover the fullness of your life.” The fullness of your life requires enormous love and it is no coincidence that the world needs it too. 

If you feel lost in troubled times, remember that even a broken commitment can be renewed. As you observe the challenges we collectively face and the challenges that are uniquely yours, what values do you hold dear and how can they serve you and humanity with tenderness and hope? You have before you — each day — the opportunity to renew your commitment and increase your consciousness in every moment, thought, and deed with the intention to love wholeheartedly, be surprised, give thanks and praise. This is how we endure these times, together—steadying ourselves like Dan Jansen did until we achieve the work we came to accomplish. 

Feature image by NEOM

Joe Primo, Grateful Living

Joe Primo is the CEO of Grateful Living. He is a passionate speaker and community-builder whose accomplishments made him a leading voice on resilience and adversity. Gratefulness for life, he believes, is foundational to discovering meaning and the only response that is big enough and appropriate for the plot twists, delights, surprises, and devastation we encounter along the way. A student of our founder since his studies at Yale Divinity School, Joe is committed to advancing our global movement and making the transformational practice of grateful living both accessible to all and integral to communities and places of belonging. His TED talk, “Grief is Good,” reframed the grief paradigm as a responsive resource. He is the author of “What Do We Tell the Children? Talking to Kids About Death and Dying” and numerous articles.

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