“I was taught from a very young age to only to use basic spells in combat… [My master] said the basics were enough to defeat the mages of this era.” — Fern, from Frieren, Beyond Journey’s End
Just as we don't feel constant velocity but only acceleration or decelerationWe rarely recognize our wealth, resources, and privilege until they fluctuate. , we often take for granted what we consistently have.
When we gain something new, we experience a temporary burst of joy or gratitude - similar to feeling acceleration. But this quickly fades as we adapt to our new normal. Conversely, when we lose something, the absence creates a noticeable deceleration that humans feel even more acutely.
This is why practicing intentional gratitude is so powerful - it allows you to simulate that sensation of "acceleration" by deliberately comparing your current state to either your past—or to hypothetical—worse circumstances. This comparison highlights our abundance and generates positive emotions similar to what we feel when we initially experience the acceleration. This allows us to bring energy from the future or past into the present moment without having to pay it back. That is a powerful tool. Don’t believe me?
The core engine of the American economy also uses this but in reverse. Two of the most staggeringly profitable businesses in the world, Google and Meta made 75% and 97.6% of their revenue respectively from ads in 2024. By showing you something you don’t have, ads prompt your brain to compare your current state with one of greater abundance, often accompanied by a smiling group of unrealistically diverse friends. So gratitude is the antidote to an omnipotent force that’s already acting on you whether you like it or not. Without this practice we remain perpetually unbalanced by default.
There also something to be said here about those who are born at the top of society. They are unable to create a change significant against the vastness of what they’re already born into. I suppose this makes them either overcompensate and seek massive impact at the expense of others like Trump or Musk, or sink into a lack of ownership and meaninglessness like many nameless trust fund babies. However, I do not concern myself with the problems of the 0.1%. I’m focused on building the playbook to help lift those left without a boat in this flood.
So where do you find gratitude when the world feels like it's burning?
Start with what's already in your hand: the sum of human knowledge, tools that would have seemed like magic a generation ago. When my friend told me, "Just download Cursor and tell the AI what you want—it's like having a private tutor for 20 bucks a month," I realized we have unprecedented access to power. You are privileged, even at the intersection of marginalized identities. Gratitude isn't about ignoring injustice—it's about generating the energy to fight it.
