Gratitude
is Light
“Whatever
our individual troubles and challenges may be, it’s important to pause every now
and then to appreciate all that we have on every level.”
Shakti
Gawain
I’ve
been thinking a lot lately about gratitude. About how it erases many of the
darkest clouds we carry within us. Of all the positive emotions, gratitude is
most powerful at dispelling dark thoughts and fears. I’ve been going around my
house lately trying to decide what to get rid of, what to keep, and why to keep
it. I wonder whether you do that too.
So many
things in my home are connected to memories that I treasure—seashells and polished
rocks from when my kids were little, bowls and trays that once belonged to
Mother or Mama, photos of long-gone cats and dogs, gourds from Ethel Owen, my
old mentor. Lots and lots of family memorabilia—things I do not need, and in
many cases don’t know how to use—like my dad’s plane table—are sitting in boxes
in my basement. I value the memories, and cling to these mementos as though the
memories are contained within them. It feels as if getting rid of them would be
the same as getting rid of the memory.
Perhaps
if we set aside a special time of remembering—a time for celebrating those who
have carried us on this life journey. Maybe even write down things we remember
about them, or at least, our favorite memories. Wouldn’t that be a better way
of honoring their gifts and expressing gratitude for their presence in our
lives? Could we then let go of the objects that remind us of them?
Gratitude
is a light that dispels darkness within, and when we live in gratitude, we make
the world around us brighter. That light shines backwards to the ones whose
memories we cherish, and forward to whatever, and whoever is yet to come.
Positive energy shining back to the beginning and far into the future is bound
to make today better.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
No comments:
Post a Comment