"GRATITUDE" Rule #2 of Chivalry

"Gratitude" Rule #2 of the Knights Code of Chivalry

"The only intelligent response to the ongoing gift of life is gratitude. For all that has been, a knight says, “Thank you.” For all that is to come, a knight says, “Yes!”

The Knights Code of "Gratitude" is one that could stand to be adopted by the citizens of today's societies. I express this because unhappiness, depression, jealousy, stress and more negative mindsets are all leading personality traits in our modern world of technology & advancements that allow us to live as if we are what our ancestors would identify as Gods.

When the code of Gratitude states to "be grateful for all that has been and all that is to come", it is reaching to activate our E.I. (Emotional Intelligence). This virtue even states that this is the only intelligent way to approach life. I enjoy this code because it teaches us to seize control over the happiness in our life and not to allow the occurrences of yesterday or tomorrow to capture and imprison it from us.

Everyone's life is filled with happiness and sadness even though some outweigh each other in certain areas. And we all can waste our lives counting grains of sand in regards to who has the saddest, hardest, or worse life and if we come to a true answer at the end, it won't do anyone any good. In fact, it will probably only make things worse for all who were involved.

The way that we choose to look at life is the way that we will see it. Our life is a gift and a responsibility that only we can navigate. Our minds are programmable and our bodies are responsive. The situations that occur around us play part in the programming of our minds as well as much more. However, only we have the access that tells our mind how to process, evaluate, and define our experiences. We are influenced, convinced, tricked and sometimes even threatened to perceive things in the ways that other people have chosen to perceive them. We do not have to adopt their conclusions. Their perception belongs to and guides them. We must guide ourselves.

At the age of 19 judgement was handed down to me by a Wyoming State judge to do 6 years in the state prison. When the judge hit the gavel I didn't even flinch. I didn't cry, I didn't plead for mercy, I simply made a gesture of a nod that expressed that I accepted what he said. Of course this bothered the judge so he asked me, "Excuse me young man. I just sentenced you to 6 years in prison and you acted as if you didn't even care. Do you care about your life?"

I responded to the judge, "Of course I do. But I'm keeping it real. I know what I did and I know where I'm going so I have been preparing to go in and come out a better person. I'm going to college while in there, turning vegetarian, I'm never going to smoke cigarettes, drink coffee, or watch television, stop cussing, read more and pick up some of the trades, and lift a lot of weights. It's where I'm going whether I like it or not so I'm cool with it."

The judge responded to me, "Son. You keep that attitude and this prison stint isn't gonna stop you from being great in life. I've never even heard anyone speak like that about doing time. Good luck."

I did just as I said I was going to do while in a place that most men and women would commit suicide to before going to. I entered with a positive attitude that guided me to discover and activate every positive thing that existed in there. I grew smarter, stronger, and gained the respect of the right people. My attitude turned would should have been the worst years of my life into the most productive and even memorable years of my life. I was too stubborn to let anyone tell me that my life sucked and neither was I ever going to cry at the feet of any man for his mercy or pity. My mindset to be thankful for all that had been and all that was to come turned a prison into my self discovery, self growth, and self empowering facility.

Sometimes we can't control what happens around us or even to us but we always can control how we respond. This code of gratitude teaches us to respond always in a manner that will be nourishing to our life and the continued growth of it. There is no liberation in the wallows of self pity and the hate. These destructive emotions imprison and poison the mind to direct behavior in ways that constantly sabotage life. Negative emotions are the weaknesses of mankind and when we allow them to dictate the perception of our life, we become the pathetic weak.

Happiness, love, kindness, care, respect are all the strong emotions of mankind because they are the emotions that construct, maintain and progress mankind! When they are our compass, we are the strong. The idea of the Knights Code of Gratitude offers us a simple, genius way to be strong daily without complication.