Being grateful for something is not the same as being subservient to it. And it’s not “being ungrateful” to refuse to give your life over to the thing for which you’re grateful.
If someone gives you a dollar, you can (and should!) be grateful. But if they then ask you to clean their entire house and you decline, don’t let them sarcastically remark “so much for being thankful for that dollar, huh?!”
If they’d offered to pay you a dollar to clean their entire house, you may have said no. Being grateful doesn’t place you in their debt for life.
And it’s never, ever “ungrateful” to strive to better yourself or your situation. Yes, you should be thankful that you have a roof over your head if you do. Likewise if you have a job, a car, etc. But “being grateful” also doesn’t mean “settling.” You can work to improve without dismissing your existing good fortune.
All this is to say – gratitude is important. But it should never be a cage.
The Opportunity Machine 