Atheism and Gratitude

There's a false impression among many (most?) god-believers that atheists can't feel the emotion of gratitude because we don't consider  a supreme being as a source for the ''gift of life'', ''blessings'', and the favorable outcomes that we experience. However, as I see it, it's  not an imaginary deity who gave me life. My parents did that. But no matter how I--or any of us  for that matter--view how we came into existence,  how would we know the difference if we hadn't?  There's a quotation attributed to Mark Twain in which he supposedly said “I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.” That reflects my sentiments exactly.

Also  I didn't  receive the memo that says I can't feel gratitude towards the people, most of all to my wife Lydia,  who have been there for me on the journey to my present stage of life.

Still another  perspective to my particular sense of gratitude is an awareness of that for all my problems, my situation could be a lot worse.

I also have a strong appreciation and sense of awe for the grandeur of the natural world which is awesome for its beauty and web of interconnectedness that ranges from smallest  the sub-atomic particle to the  greatest supercluster of galaxies in the universe.

So I have a many things in my life for which I am grateful, and  a realization that such good fortune should not be taken for granted. That may be the most important awareness about gratitude of all .