In this brief Q&A session, "Secret of Letting Go" author Guy Finley talks about bringing an end to the painful position of thinking that life owes us something, and what it would mean to have real gratitude.

If we were able to always accept every moment as complete and always be at peace, wouldn't it lead to us no longer pursuing anything? Would we not become entirely passive? And wouldn't that be a problem? Are we supposed to be satisfied with whatever is going on at the moment? Isn't some amount of dissatisfaction necessary to drive us to make changes in our lives?

In this answer to a viewer's question, "letting go" author Guy Finley explains that a feeling of frustration with another person is the downstream effect of carrying around an image of ourselves as being perfect. Never blame another human being for how you feel. The condition that you blame for the painful feeling of impatience is not outside of you.

There do come to us in our lives, for any one of innumerable possible reasons, certain conditions that challenge the very fabric of our being. Certainly, none of us would think to ourselves, "I wish upon myself these difficult circumstances," and yet the truth is it is through and because of these same unwanted moments that we are granted the opportunity to meet parts of ourselves...

If you haven't noticed this yet about yourself, it's easy to see in others: we each seem to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. The nature of this burden may change with age. When young, we feel the weight of having to choose a direction in life. As adults, we feel encumbered by all the perceived requirements of an active life: trying to control events...

How can someone be given so much and -- rather than being grateful for the abundance of these gifts -- be so negative over a single element in the midst of them? Closer examination of such a situation, and the inconsolable level of self that gives rise to it, may show us that we have more in common with this discontented character than not. It's impossible for us to...