The definition of thankfulness suggests that this is a state of

mind. Not just any part of the mind, But the logical mind, the

newly evolved thing that made Darwin begin to look at species or

that caused Copernicus to disbelieve his training.
Since we are mammals, we were long time ago unsentient, still

social creatures, still milk producing, but not aware of abstract

thought processes.
Is “thankfulness” and abstract thought process? This state of

mind is not associated with the three basic human needs, namely

reproduction, food , nor housing(adaptation to our climate or

whatever you want to call housing).
The argument of “thankfulness” when invoked by the net search

engines (google,altavista) appears to be associated with

religions.
One thing that I have noticed when in a forced wait

condition,(for example the doctors office waiting room), My mind

is restricted to the absolute moment, sometimes a clock,

sometimes the receptionist inside the slide window, sometimes the

tiles on the floor, or the bricks in the wall. This thought takes

me back to eight years old and the big wooden pews that had

infinite pattern of wood grain. These thoughts are inextricably

associated with the forced waiting for church to be over. In

those days school and church were run by the same masters and the

overall message to me was ystfu. When I was binded into a

physical place and controlled with fear mentally , no visible

sign of anything was allowed. At that time the master would begin

with the message “be thankful”, while I was intrigued by the

infinite wood grain pattern between my legs. (a boy is made to

put his head down quite a ways to pray).
It seems that my masters had determined that first of all , my

mind could be abstract at eight years old, in fact I was forced

to be thankful, and secondly they predetermined that thankfulness

was good for them. Note here that no proof exists about good for

me, but lots of proof (do the net search again if you forgot

where this logic came from) exists about good for them. My own

experience from “thankfulness” is that wood is made from a plant

growing on a fantastically beautiful planet called earth. That

place was later closed and the pews were installed into another

church far away. Myself wants to imagine that this early

thankfulness training was thought control , plain and simple mind

control game. As I write this however, I realize that the thought

control for me failed. Indeed was it a stupid waist of time? Not

at all. Remember that all of us are forced from time to time into

a box. It may be while driving heavy traffic. It may be the

doctors office. It may be because of an illness and being stuck

flat on your back. When that happens it is a good thing to return

to the planets forests if only in one’s mind (and this is a mind

thing as mentioned above) to imagine the infinite patterns of

plant life, or if you are outdoors savy, then look at the star

systems in which this planet exists. Our conscious mind strives

to know things from earliest conception. The downside is that our

conscious mind will eventually, hopefully someday figure out that

it cannot possibly learn all that there is to know. When one’s

mind concludes there are infinite facts of life, then the retreat

location is a controlled place you have already encountered.

Hopefully your retreat location was a tranquil place, perhaps

staring into a forest stream watching the endless patterns

changing your face. If your thoughts return to the organized

religion structure, you are in fact caught in a circle of warp.
So how is it with you? ??
So how is it with me? I am caught in the eddy of organized

religion most of the time. Sometimes I can go right thru that

sahara of two thousand year old dogma, and pop out on the

otherside in the forest. No , I do not smoke, and there is no

alcohol powerful enough to propel me there. I am thankful that I

can get there on some days.