Below is an edited, improved, and structured transcript of the video for those who prefer reading.
Written Version
Introduction
Hi — this is the second video on the Dries Cronje YouTube channel.
It’s been a bit of a rough morning for me. And I think that’s actually something to be grateful for — because life triggered one of my blockages, one of my samskaras, and that gave me a real opportunity to practice.
Something happened this morning. I won’t go into the details, but I got triggered, I got angry, and I learned a lot from it.
A Surrender Moment
What I experienced this morning felt aligned with the teachings of Michael Singer.
As I mentioned in the previous video, I’ve recently been listening to his audiobooks and studying surrender more deeply. It’s a path I want to walk consciously.
A samskara, as I understand it, is simply a blockage — a place where personality, background, or ego blocks energy from flowing freely. And whenever life gives you a chance to release one of those, that’s actually very good spiritual practice.
So, strangely enough, I’m deeply grateful for what happened this morning.
I had the chance to step back and just allow the feeling to be.
In the past, I would have been highly activated. I would have reacted with anger. This time, I could sit with the feeling and let it pass.
In the past, I might have used tools like EFT tapping or breathing exercises — and those are all good tools. But in the spirit of true surrender, I don’t think the idea is to fix the feeling.
I think the idea is to allow it, to relax, to release, and to sit with what’s happening — letting it work its way through you.
Rhythm & Commitment
That’s one part of my daily journaling and reflection that I wanted to share.
Just to clarify: these videos won’t necessarily be daily. Today is the second day in a row after posting yesterday, but my intended rhythm for 2026 is weekly.
That’s the commitment I want to honor.
If I post more often, great. If not, I’ll at least keep the weekly rhythm.
Introducing the Gratitude Experiment
There’s something else I wanted to talk about today — what I’m calling the gratitude experiment.
I’ve worked with gratitude before. I’ve done structured gratitude programs like The Magic by Rhonda Byrne. Back then, I approached gratitude from a place of trying to create a better future — trying to improve life circumstances.
That’s not really what I want to focus on now.
This year is about surrender. It’s about getting to what I really want in life — and I think what we all want:
- Natural inner joy
- A childlike enthusiasm for life
- A sense of true love
As adults, we often lose that joy because we develop preferences, filters, and mental conditioning.
Gratitude as Allowing Reality
For me, gratitude now is less about changing circumstances and more about this question:
Am I truly allowing reality, as it is, to flow through me unhindered?
In listening to Michael Singer, I learned more about Ramana Maharshi. I’d heard of him before, and both Eckhart Tolle and Michael Singer regard his teachings very highly.
His path was centered around the question:
“Who am I?”
Singer sometimes phrases it as:
Who sees what I see? Who hears what I hear?
And that resonates deeply with me.
There’s this human being — a personality — living on a planet spinning around a star at exactly the right distance to allow life. I can feel gratitude for that.
But then another question arises:
Who is aware of that gratitude?
Is it the person?
Or is it the deeper identity behind the person — the awareness that’s untouched by life?
That same awareness that, this morning, could simply sit back and observe anger without becoming it.
A Year of Gratitude
So I’m committing to a year of gratitude.
I’ll probably talk more in the next video about what my life looks like right now, because if this is an experiment, it makes sense to also observe outer circumstances.
But the primary focus is inner:
- What am I feeling?
- Am I connected to joy?
- Do I feel enthusiasm for life?
- Can I experience love — the opposite of fear?
Most of us live with some degree of fear or anxiety. Often, that fear is what drives our ambitions, rather than something true and aligned.
The Experiment Begins
Today is 16 January 2026, and this is where the experiment begins.
I’ll track it over the year and share regular feedback and progress reports. After a year, we’ll see what impact this experiment had — both internally and externally.
I don’t yet know exactly what the gratitude practices will look like.
I’m open.
I listened to someone yesterday — I believe her name is Tiffany Cruikshank? (I may be mistaken.) She’s the head of mindfulness at the Calm app, and she said something that really struck me:
Being grateful is like writing a love letter to your life — every day.
I don’t yet know whether this will involve writing, listing things, or simply cultivating an inner sense of gratitude. I’ll explore, see what unfolds, and share it here as I go.
Closing
Thank you so much for watching.
This is the second video on my YouTube channel. I also post these videos — along with lightly edited transcripts — on DriesCronje.com, my blog.
I’ll see you in the next video.
And yes — I just dropped the little tool that starts and stops the recording, so I need to pick that up now.
Thanks for watching.
Cheers.