Karma with gratitude

kurvanneveha karmani jijivisecchatam samah |
evam tvayi nanyatheto'sti na karma lipyate nare  2 
                                                                                     Isavasya Upanishad

For most of us, life is a very serious affair. Each and every incident affects us so much that its impact is felt all the time. The reason is very clear. We do actions in our life as though we are the doers. So the actions are merged in our identity. I did this. I did that . This goes on. Since you do, you have to suffer. The results of any action is not pre determined. It is determined based  on many conditions. There are lot of unexpected things that can happen. And yet we continue to expect. Knowingly , unknowingly. The sufferings are imbibed in our memory. If we ask anyone they would tell all the miseries in their life.
The path of karma is known to all but never practiced. Never taint yourself with the clinging. When you go to a coal cellar, however careful you are you would come with some coal in your body. Some dust just taints your face or somewhere. But consider if you can come without even a smearing of coal dust. That is how it should be when you do actions. Never cling to the actions mentally. This is what the upanishad says " na lipyate nare".   How can we do this ?, There are two ways of doing things in life. One is acting and the second is doing. If you do things you are clinging to the actions , if you act out your part nothing hurts you. So each and every action that you do should be like a scene enacted . Act as though you are doing . Intenally understand that this is just an acting . You don't have to abandon objects, but you should mentally detach from them. Existence is the doer, you are only its instrument. As the gita says nimitta-matram bhava

How many of us are content with what we have?. How many of us look back and say i must be so grateful. There are no words required. But the contentment feeling is enough. You don't have to say it to anybody even to yourself. But contentment is something that can alleviate our sorrows. Each and every day we get up in the morning , look in the mirror and thank existence. Meditate on positive feelings that have come to you. Never feel anything other than gratitude. Your existence itself is a big gift. Forget about all the rest.

Everyday be with yourself for a while. Understand your inner world of thoughts emotions and feelings. See what are the greatest attachments . Learn to be with yourself and sink into your being.
Meditation is a habit. This is the reason why Buddhism practices meditation a lot. It purifies your mind, makes your inner world known to you and helps to be with your being. One of the buddhist meditation is called Metta Bhavana( Loving Kindness)  . It is a simple meditation which anybody can do. What you do is to just sit and say to yourself  " I am calm and may i be happy" . If you go on repeating this simple thought in your mind , it is a soothing feeling. After some time your mind starts believing it.  This is something you can do even without sitting in meditation. Whenever you get time say this in your mind feeling for it.

Man is like water . He can assume any shape . It depends on what vessel you are in. The conditioning is what makes us. There is no such thing as inherent nature. Conditioning can change any native tendencies.