Happiness and the Bad Guest

So last night Wifey and I attended the third class on gratitude, taught by our friend and Rabbi Yossi. We've been enjoying it -- our temporary Wednesday night routine is dinner at Wagon's West, a local diner, followed by the short drive west of US 1 to the Chabad Center. The topic discussed last night was gratitude -- and how it's an essential part of happiness. We talked about studies that showed, over the years , how people who appreciate what they have do better in objective health ways, and live longer. We also discussed the falseness, or temporariness, of happiness bought by material possessions. When we yearn for something, and get it, we're happy -- but soon whatever we get becomes routine, and we take it for granted. This is why kids raised wealthy so often find it difficult to appreciate things -- they simply expect all they desire to come their way. The Rabbi shared a tale about liking fast cars -- and a few years past, a congregant lent him his Audi A7 for a few weeks. For the first week, the Rabbi loved the car, but within a few days afterwards, it was a vehicle like any other. He shared with us the Chasidic belief that gratitude is essential in Judaism. The earliest Jews following deliverance from Egypt were instructed to give the first fruits of the harvest as a sacrifice at the Temple -- to show the Big Man they appreciated everything that would follow. And there are prayers to be said all day that express thanks. Wifey loved the fact that there's a prayer to be said each time one has a succesful bathroom visit. The woman next to her said she has that prayer on her bathroom door -- to remind her that we MUST be thankful for this. And then the lesson was about the Bad Guest. The parable is that 2 guests were invited for dinner. The first thanked his host for having him, and marveled that he was given a meal and wine. The second mocked the simple and easily prepared food -- and noted the host had to prepare a meal for his own family, so it was no big deal having him over. The Rabbi shared how one of his relatives used to make fun of the fact that they brought in prepared meals for some holidays -- whereas the relative always provided "home cooked." So he had a bad guest in his own family! The point is, we must appreciate all we are given. And how appropriate this lesson was -- with T Day just around the corner. D2 is due in, and we plan to gather at the hotel where we've spent the last 7 years together -- to feast, and sit on the Bay and be together. Wifey and I share the gratitude thing...and plan to have it full blast next week. Now if I can just remember that bathroom prayer...