Appreciate
Your Life
“Gratitude
is the sweetest thing in a seekers life—in all human life. If there
is gratitude in your heart, there will be tremendous sweetness in
your eyes.”
Sri
Chinmoy
As I lay in bed this
morning, with dog-Liza poking me in the belly to get up, I pondered
gratitude for all that is in my life—and for all that is NOT in my
life. One of the things I am profoundly aware of is the wealth of
unearned goodness that surrounds me—an embarrassment of riches and
wonder. I wonder whether you feel that way, too. We go about our
lives, at least I do, focused on all that is not ours, all the chaos
in the world, all the inequality. Rarely do we stop to simply say
thank you for what is. Thank you to the universe, to God, to one's
fellow-humans, for life and breath and sweetness. I am also learning
(in my dotage), to appreciate the goodness in what I do not possess,
because it keeps me active and seeking.
Do you ever think about
the impact of the choices you made in the past that have shaped the
contours of your life? The people who surround you, the significant
others you have chosen, the work you've done—and how it would be
different had you made other decisions early on. Maybe these are the
thoughts of an old woman ruminating on the past—but they are not
unhappy. Here's the deal: Even though we can look back and see
terrible mistakes, bad choices and stupid actions we undertook, (at least, I can) we
can still have gratitude for all of them. They have been our
teachers; they have brought us to here and now, and they have carved
out our place in the stream of life. Had we made other choices, our
lives would undoubtedly look different, but what part of this life,
this here and now, would you sacrifice for that?
In this season of
Thanksgiving, let's ponder gratitude's role in our lives. What are
you grateful for having—and what are you grateful for not having?
What brings you joy? How can you re-frame your “bad” decisions to
glean the jewels within them? According to Lionel Hampton, “Gratitude
is when memory is stored in the heart, and not in the mind.”
What's stored in your heart?
In the Spirit,
Jane
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