Gratitude

Be grateful for all things in your life in this moment ... not just the "good" things.

Being grateful for the good things seems self evident but we often forget to express our gratitude.  Expressing our gratitude when we are enjoying our experience is much like hitting the "OK" button on the computer when it is asking us "Are you sure that you want this to happen?".

Being grateful for those things which may not seem "good" to us in the moment is also important to us. The point we would make here is that the notion of "good" is context sensitive and we often don't know what is good until later on. 

For example, if I have a flat tire on our way to an appointment and it slows me down so that I avoid direct involvement in a serious accident that then happens without me.  Another example might be a serious illness that then positions me to learn an important life lesson or perhaps be available for a loved one.  God is Good ... all the time.  Reminding myself of this fact and applying it to specific circumstances serves to open me up to the opportunity hidden in every experience.  Every experience then automatically holds the potential for a healing moment.

We sometimes play something we call the "gratitude game".  Periodically, we express, out loud, our gratitude for everything in our consciousness.  We may be driving down the road in our car and start repeating, out loud, sentences like:

 

• I am grateful for the blue sky.
• I am grateful for the clouds.
• I am grateful for my ability to see the colours.
• I am grateful for my ability to see.
• I am grateful for my ability to see all things rightly.
• I am grateful for pavement paint.
• I am grateful for the pain in my right finger.
• I am grateful for the lady in my life. 
• I am grateful for ............... (fill in the blank with the first thing that comes to your mind ... without regard to logic or sensibility).

Playing the gratitude game has an amazing impact on the way we feel, the way we view the world, and the way that others subsequently respond to us thereafter. If we are down, it lifts our spirits immensely.  Truly amazing.  We rarely play it for longer than a couple of minutes a session whereupon we experience a wonderful, natural "high" that seems to effect our Joyous day. 

My position is that my Higher Power is to be thanked for all that is good in my life.  Anything that doesn't fit that description is an indication that I need to strengthen my relationship with my Higher Power.  That said, I can always find a reason to be grateful for everything in my experience ... at the very least, I have an opportunity to learn something.

Amen