Once there was a wise old sage, and people would travel a long ways to receive his teachings. He always taught one thing, a mantra to say to everything in life: Thank you, I am grateful for everything.

One time a man received this teaching and said it with everything for a year. At the end of the year, he was still irritable, impatient, frustrated and tired. So he traveled back to the wise old sage, shared his story and asked what to do now. The sage said, “Thank you, I am grateful for everything.” The man almost broke down in frustration and then suddenly laughed, saying, “thank you I am grateful for everything,” and left free.

What changed? How do you make sense of the shift that happened for this man? Understanding the essence of this shift is how we open in the direction of the true authentic healing of mindfulness.