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For Sat Jul 5, 2008
The closer I stay to the earth, the clearer I can hear my spirit's voice.
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Gratitude
We hear a lot about gratitude these days, from “the attitude of gratitude” philosophies, to gratitude rocks and journals, to gratitude as a formula for abundance. But what is gratitude? Simply put, gratitude is saying “Yes” to life.
The practice of gratitude is life empowering. It can change the way you feel about yourself and life’s events. With the attitude of gratitude you can change the state of your consciousness. You move out of reactionary emotions and take charge of your personal energy. When you are experiencing gratitude your energy field is full and expanded
- you feel alive, healthy – and you are a healing presence. When you are having negative thoughts and feelings your energy field deflates and you feel drained, out of sorts, heavy and without vitality. Your energy has leaked away and you have given your personal power to someone or something.
The quality of your life is a result of what you focus on. The practice of focusing on all that you "have" amplifies and enriches the experience of everyday living. Gratitude is a choice to see things differently. When choosing to be grateful you are focusing on all the things that are good or right in your life as opposed to the things that are not. Focus acts like a magnet; you attract those things on which you focus. By focusing on the things you are grateful for, you give those aspects of your life more power. Your world begins to feel more full and alive.
Acknowledging what you have is saying “yes” to whatever is in front of you. It’s saying “yes, I see what I have and I accept it.” When you say “yes”, you can then engage with what you have because you have acknowledged its presence in your life. When you deny, resist or reject what is in front of you, you are being ungrateful and, therefore, disempowered to do anything about it. By actually being grateful for all that Life brings, you empower yourself to work with it to create more of what you want.
For example, let’s say that you desire more love in your life. The way to use gratitude to act like a magnet to draw even more love to you is to start by saying “yes, I feel that love” wherever you can now. You acknowledge and appreciate the love that you feel from and to all sorts of people around you. You acknowledge and appreciate the love that you feel for and from your pets, your plants, the earth and the stars. You acknowledge and appreciate the love that you feel for and from all the spiritual realms. You just open your eyes, ears and heart and notice that you are totally surrounded by love.
Many people will do just the opposite. They actually keep the love
they want at bay by discounting or rejecting that love is already there by saying things like, “no, it’s not enough, it’s not from the right person, it’s not like it should be, it’s not good enough, it’s only a friend/pet/family member, “they” have it and I don’t.” If you want more love, you must say “yes” to the love
that you already have. Then choose to give love from that fullness and more love will flow back to you from many sources.
Like anything else, gratitude requires practice and discipline. There are many ways you can incorporate the practice of gratitude into our life. You can begin with simple practices that develop gratitude.
You do not need something to be grateful for, only the desire to feel grateful.
Practice being in gratitude by thinking of things for which you are thankful.
Eventually you will move into the awareness that just being and experiencing
what you have in life is enough. Now you are experiencing and projecting gratitude and love from an open heart.
Centering
One way to begin is to set aside quiet moments for reflection. Use a
journal to express your deepest thoughts and moments of gratitude. Writing truly brings things to the surface and allows you the privacy and intimacy of a quiet, non-judgmental
listening space. This will be a place you can turn to when you feel troubled or agitated.
By reading the words you have written, you will be able to re-open your heart.
Also, try the
meditative moments on the site, they can be helpful.
Another way is to take a walk and focus your attention on the trees, their colors, and the
various textures. Notice the birds, listen to the sounds of their song.
And listen to the sound of the breeze blowing through the trees. Feel the ground beneath you. By observing with
this detail and conscious awareness you move into feeling gratitude. The mere act of conscious and intentional observation and appreciation is an expression of gratitude.
Create affirmations that will help remind you to focus on gratitude. An example would be:
* I turn my thoughts to all the gifts life brings me.
* I appreciate and am grateful for my health, my family, and my friends
the earth and its creatures, and the beauty in each day.
* My life is filled with abundance and I am blessed
* I have everything I need exactly when I need it.
Another way to express gratitude might be to write a thank you note to someone for sharing in your life. Appreciating other people brings
both of you joy. Try our
share an appreciation
area as a tool to express gratitude.
Gratitude brings us to the place of giving and receiving. Gratitude acknowledges our receiving of abundance, and, in and of itself, becomes an act of giving back to the Universe. Abundance then becomes a natural byproduct of gratitude because it was always there! We just had not been able to see it.
Gratitude is becoming consciously aware of all that is there for us in life, and then acknowledging the gift by saying “yes.” This aligns us with the Universal principle that giving is the same as receiving. In graciously
accepting and receiving the gifts that life provides us, we give back the gift of gratitude. Show and express your gratitude and you will see that your life is a beautiful string of miracles!! Say “yes” to Life.
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