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Gratitude helps me see not just the good in the world but at the same time, gratitude helps me see the good everywhere and in everyone especially within myself. I feel that gratitude is an experiential way of life that lets you taste and see what God allows you to taste and see and Savor the flavor of lifes wonder and splendor.
I can only see one thing at a time. Gratitude will lead me to see the good as opposed to finding fault.
The good I’m seeing right now? The images and words that make up this website. What I’m feeling is deep gratitude for all the care (and talent shared) that goes into this daily online offering. Thank you, demo.gratefulness.org team!
“It is not the answer that enlightens but the question.” Eugene Ionesco
I had such a need to understand, to analyze everything, to be sure, to find the answer so I could live. One day, I realized that I was getting old and if I wanted to live instead of just exist, I best live my questions.
To do that I found it necessary to decide that life is trustworthy. What do I mean by that? I mean that creation is one and it is constantly and inexcusably dedicated to its evolution. We are part...
“It is not the answer that enlightens but the question.” Eugene Ionesco
I had such a need to understand, to analyze everything, to be sure, to find the answer so I could live. One day, I realized that I was getting old and if I wanted to live instead of just exist, I best live my questions.
To do that I found it necessary to decide that life is trustworthy. What do I mean by that? I mean that creation is one and it is constantly and inexcusably dedicated to its evolution. We are part of that evolution but not the center of it. We either contribute to the growth of consciousness or we jeopardize it.
Author and theologian Cynthia Bourgeault (Returning to Essentials: Teaching an Alternative Orthodoxy, disc 1 (Center for Action and Contemplation: 2015), CD, MP3 download) says “God (Life) is rapturously delighted in every human being whose heart breaks open and blooms. Then, as human beings come to their glory, the world comes to its glory. It’s a view which is inclusive, recognizing that human beings on all paths are called to glorification, to the full emergence of the human being. It’s evolutionary in that we are a work in progress, both individually and collectively. Creation itself is not static but dynamic.” (Italics are mine.)
Several years ago, my stepmother found herself faced with Macular Degeneration. Her range of vision was getting smaller and smaller. Even what she could see was becoming quite blurry. She finally moved from her home into assisted living. My son, who I consider my teacher, went to visit his grandmother and she was lamenting her situation. She said, Why me? Why is this happening to me? And my son respectfully and lovingly replied, “Grandma, why not you?”
I find that response a dynamic question. It set her up for acceptance. It baited her to move from WHY questions to HOW questions. How am I going to deal with this? Am I grateful for all the years of sight that I was given? Am I willing to take the energy my frustration and anger has created and use it to discover how to live lovingly and productively with this loss of my sight and my independence? I’m grateful to say that is exactly what she did. And I have no doubt that she was grateful to her grandson for his question. She didn’t need sympathy, she needed reality.
My son has taught me, helped me see the good in the world. One of his favorite sayings is “Every day’s a good day, Mama.”
Gratitude for me is knowing that God’s mercy and grace still exists in this day and age. That not all people of today’s society are ignorant and disrespectful.
It provides tools, awareness and a community to anchor and shift my body, mind and spirit towards what is beautiful and good …
Gratitude is a constant reminder that we do have goodness surrounding us.
In feeling and expressing gratitude, my being-ness slows down and I become present and centered. From that place, I can really see so much more good in the world.
The happy people, the wise people, the babies, the elderly cut the path of goodness which flows across the planet unimpeded. If only everyone recognized it, and expressed in love with a simple smile to one another. That would be enough.
it puts me in the proper mindset. acting on gratitude keeps me in the proper mindset. I see people in their best light. I see situations as “overcome able”.
Gratitude is like an anchor to finding the places in life where goodness resides.
Yes!
Beautifully put.
Gratitude lights the light inside, and gratefulness comes back as a direct reflection from all that we are grateful for. It is like a refined scent of incense that comes and gives the gift of joy and beauty to our soul.
As a baseline, if we experience gratitude as intrinsically good, then it can be built upon minute by minute and hour by hour so that it naturally flows outward and beyond. And outward and beyond is where the world is.
Joining in with my thoughts and prayers, all the best Kevin
Best of success to your medical team and prayers for a good recovery, Kevin!
Perfectly stated, Deb. Thank you very much indeed!
Kevin, My prayers are with you, your loved ones and your medical team this day, tomorrow and through your recovery.
Hello KC, how nice to hear from you….and thank you for your kindness and your prayers which I value greatly. My best to you and yours as well.
Sending love and healing energies.
Thanks Martine….I will take this with me into the O.R. tomorrow!
Have a speedy recovery Kevin.
dear Kevin, we are all sending you and the medical folks are care and love. thank you for your strength and courage.
Thank you, Michael.
Dear Kevin,
I am lighting a candle for you tonight and I will be praying for you and your surgical team as I am driving to work and your surgery will be starting in the morning. You will do well. I am happy for you that you are having this done.
Much love to you Kevin,
Mary
Dear Kevin, I wish you the best of care and a full quick recovery.
Dear Kevin, all the best for your surgery and recovery. May your days be enlightened by all your dearest, and your path towards healing be not too hard.
Thanks Anna, for sure, I am one lucky person with so much love and good energy swirling about. Take care, and I’ll be checking in a few days time.
Echoing Pilgrim and holding you in my prayers, too. All the best for your operation and full recovery.
Thanks Ose, you know, I feel like I’m bringing a lot of other good folks with me tomorrow! I may need to ask for a bigger room Ha! My best to you.
Kevin, I will be holding you and your surgical team in prayer tomorrow, and your recovery in the days ahead. Be well.
thanks so much, Pilgrim. I’m ready to get this done and get on the other side of it with the healing process! My best to you as well.
In a world that can feel dangerous and where the focus is usually on what goes wrong, reinforcing my tendency to see and expect that in the first place, gratefulness helps me take notice of the beauty, the freely given, the small miracles, and, as one of Louise Hay’s affirmations, that “life loves us”
So very true!
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it is like the soil on which I am walking – Mother Earth. Gratitude brings a smile in my face, eyes are wider and circling around the- focusing the encouraging examples of life and crystalizes the HUM around it. From there, I would like to start circling into the center, circling into the wheel…..
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