We’ve all read and heard how important it is to be in gratitude. But why? Isn’t it enough to just be content when we get what we’ve been asking for or when are delightfully surprised?
I mean, I guess so, it’s better than nothing. But, being content is like 10% of gratitude. Gratitude is a game changer. Its vibration is so high it has the ability to change your field, the energy around you. And, it can help you bring more experiences like the one you’re grateful for. Recognizing moments where you have been blessed are moments to be grateful for.
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Do you think a lot? I like to think, it keeps me alive. Having the ability to reason is an attribute I’m not willing to give up. But, I also believe that thinking can be a source of discord.
Years ago my mother said to me, 'the problem with you and me is we think too much.' Okaaay. It pissed me off at the time. I had no idea what she was talking about, but over the years, I've come realize she was quite right. We can spend too much time in our heads. All that churning about that we do, the back and forth – should I do this or should I do that, or the worry that spins us into anxious moments of despair. Staying in our heads by constant thinking can actually work against us because it doesn’t bring an answer or relief. I don’t like being inconvenienced.
There, I’ve said it. I’m not proud of it, but dang once I realized this, my life got a lot more joyful. When I say I don’t like to be inconvenienced, I mean I don’t like being asked to do something I wasn’t planning to do. I can get quite huffy about it. Even my husband asking for my signature to deposit a sum of money into our bank account can cause a huff and an eye roll. “Really? You want me to stop what I’m doing and sign my name now?” Of course it’s childish and stupid, but that was my reaction until I was able to identify and become consciously aware of what I was doing. It feels like it took me forever. Again, not proud of it. Do you ever get the feeling that something is missing from your life? Like if you were to order a mocha ice cream cone and got coffee instead? Part of what you ordered is there, but the parts that give depth of flavor are missing.
I feel like that’s what happens when we live our lives running about going from one task to the next. It’s easy to get caught up in the busy. But is it satisfying? Personally, it leaves me feeling empty. The way to fill that emptiness is not with more doing. Rather, I feel we're being asked to sit and be with ourselves in a way that is loving and reflects gratitude for all that we are. Have you ever wondered what it must have been like for your soul to move into your body when you were born? Whenever I think of it, I feel this big expansive mist of love trying to squish itself into a physical form – like trying to get a blown-up balloon into a jar. I expect the soul is a bit more malleable, but still.
I’ve heard that the soul pops in and out while we’re still in utero. Maybe checking things out, getting some measurements and then going back to home base and knowing it will all work when the time comes, but maybe wondering how. Someone recently posted on Facebook that they did a Twitter survey to see how many people believed they had a soul. She said she was completely shocked to learn that there were people who believed they did not have one. The truth is, we are sovereign human beings and can believe whatever we choose. For me, I believe the soul is me. It’s what breathed my body into life. But for many of us, even when we believe we have a soul, we forget and this explains a lot. There are times when I’m in the midst of an experience and I’ll say “Man, this is challenging.” Or I’ll say to someone, “that must have been challenging for you.”It seems like there might be a better word than challenging though because ‘challenge’ means either taking part in a competition with self or with others, being in an unjust or provoked situation.
When we look at events in our life as challenges, are we actually saying that they shouldn’t be happening to us? Do I really mean to say “this sucks, it’s not fair, it shouldn’t be this way?” Maybe so, but isn’t that putting up a wall to higher more loving possibilities? I think I need to stop and think about this for a minute. . . Even though I gave up dieting eight years ago, I sometimes wonder if I should lose some weight. Why? Well, for starters it’s a concept that’s very ingrained in me.
I started my first official diet at the age of twenty-two, not because I needed to lose weight but because I was supporting a friend and losing a few pounds didn't sound half bad. We joined Weight Watchers and I ended up losing around 20 pounds. Man, did I look good, skinny with protruding hip bones – just like Twiggy who I had idolized in high school. We all know the story though, lose weight, gain it back, lose it again, gain back more. Gosh, dieting became the thread that ran through the story of my life – for forty years. You're an amazing woman and I'll tell you why. You're a unique, one of a kind superwoman who is the only person alive on planet earth who can be you.
Have you ever thought about what makes you unique? Let me start you off: Have you ever thought about why you might want to change something? A tire, a diaper, a behavior? I don’t know a whole lot about changing a tire, which probably isn’t a good thing, but what I do know is you wouldn’t do it simply because you want to. You’d do it because you have to. The same with a diaper. A fresh diaper doesn’t need to be changed, but by golly, you definitely want to change a soiled one asap.
So, what about behaviors? When and why might you change those? I think the place to start is to suggest that as humans, we’re not set in stone. That is to say we’re dynamic. I think we can all agree that we’re not the same person we were as a small child or when we were in college, or even last week for that matter. We have experiences that impact and shape us. The behaviors we learned when we were young insured our survival and that’s important. But are those same behaviors necessary when we’re older? Probably not. But for most of us, those survival behaviors are still with us and they are alive and well, showing up as triggers - sometimes when we least expect them. Have you ever thought about how amazing the human body is? Honestly, it’s mindboggling.
One of the really cool things I admire about the human body is that it gives us information. Sometimes I think we humans look at our bodies like they’re something we have to endure. But truly, we couldn’t be alive on this planet without it and no matter what our body looks like, we really should be honoring and listening to what it has to tell us. For instance, excess weight can be an indication that the body is out of balance. |
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