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Gratefulness
I am just grateful to be alive.
By not being allowed to visit family. Not being allowed to socialize and do what I love most. The pandemic has been a real gift.
I don’t believe that everything that I do impacts the world. There are far too many people for that. But collective action such as group meditation can have a small impact. But I can meet the day with gratitude trusting that with another opportunity to practice gratitude, I am part of the solution.
Many many people touch my life. Nature too. Just the other day walking on the college campus with no one nearby I was gifted by a dragonfly fliting back and fourth in the sunshine that was hitting that spot just right. Many times it seemed to come near me within a foot of me very slowly, as though to peer at me as I had stopped to watch it. Of course it was grabbing at bugs in the air but it honestly seemed to be studying me as much as I was studying it. It was a glorious gift for 5-10 minute...
Many many people touch my life. Nature too. Just the other day walking on the college campus with no one nearby I was gifted by a dragonfly fliting back and fourth in the sunshine that was hitting that spot just right. Many times it seemed to come near me within a foot of me very slowly, as though to peer at me as I had stopped to watch it. Of course it was grabbing at bugs in the air but it honestly seemed to be studying me as much as I was studying it. It was a glorious gift for 5-10 minutes. I have a pen pal who sends me post cards out of the blue between her actual letters. It is very nice.
At this time in history there is no playfulness or adventure. Yesterday I was away from the house for about 6 hours for the first time since Covid19 started. When I got home I realized I felt profoundly physically and mentally refreshed. It has been years since I have felt that way. It gave me energy. Although gratefulness has helped me remain positive, it has not refreshed me like I felt yesterday. I am thankful for refreshing.
There are not too many people I truly admire. Perhaps Cynthia Jurs who leads Mindfulness Mondays, a Buddhist meditation time for world peace and healing the earth. I am not Buddhist but I find working with them to be meaningful. No one else, that I know is doing anything. Or perhaps myself as I walk my grateful journey doing what I can to improve the community I live in. I admire people of peace.
I serve peace everyday through meditation. I start each day by verbally speaking gratitude for a fresh day and for the gift of life. I try to remember to say “thank you” to the bus drivers and other servicepeople encountered through the day. I serve peace by examining my thoughts when I catch myself harboring mean thoughts about something or someone. It is a slow process.
I can continue to look for the positive in spite of everything. Continue my practice of gratitude, meditation and Tai Chi. Continue to read and learn. The gift is to keep trying to cheer other people up. It takes stamina and commitment to do that.
First and foremost, Love. Make and take any and every opportunity to nurture family relationships. Then friendships. Then music because it connects us. And health empowers all that. Travel is important because it helps us tune into the rest of the world which expands our small minds.
The event that comes to mind is a trip to Victoria, BC I took in 2016 to celebrate my graduation from college in 2014 at age 60. On the return I needed a place to stay overnight. An elderly friend offered. I accepted. It was the very first time we had ever just sat and talked for an evening. It was a real gift as a year ago she had a stroke and then 3 months later fell and broke her hip. Both of which changed her in ways she doesn’t realize. I will forever be grateful for the time I had...
The event that comes to mind is a trip to Victoria, BC I took in 2016 to celebrate my graduation from college in 2014 at age 60. On the return I needed a place to stay overnight. An elderly friend offered. I accepted. It was the very first time we had ever just sat and talked for an evening. It was a real gift as a year ago she had a stroke and then 3 months later fell and broke her hip. Both of which changed her in ways she doesn’t realize. I will forever be grateful for the time I had with her. At 89 she could pass at anytime. That is the only time of receiving from others I remember.
This is a new thought. Listen to my life tell me how to live. So many times it seems my intuition says one thing, then life throws something totally different at me. Reconciling the two is not easy. I will keep trying.
Listening. Affirmation. A smile. Staying 6 feet away. Simple things but oh so important.
I appreciate the new idea of our bodies being resonant chambers. A whole new concept. I should have known because I can feel the environmental noise around me all day every day and as old as I am, I cannot seem to adjust to it. My grateful practice is helping to sift through and find the gifts. I will try to perceive the noise as a gift and see what happens. Thank you.
I notice that the word “core” is used rather than the word “moral”. Is it our values that give us virtue and therefore moral? I think ultimately, we all have the same values. The foremost of which is Love. Everything leads back to love. Forgiveness is another one. And patience. Without love there is no forgiveness which leads to patience. These three. But the greatest is Love.
By listening. Years ago when my kids were in their teens I realized they were no longer listening to my words. At the same time I noticed no one else really cared about what I was saying either. I shut up and started just being polite and listening and affirmative. Ever since then I have found I seem to draw people who either need to talk at me or who lack the understanding of what true conversion really is. I hear all kinds of things, sometimes data overload. I mostly keep my thoughts to mys...
By listening. Years ago when my kids were in their teens I realized they were no longer listening to my words. At the same time I noticed no one else really cared about what I was saying either. I shut up and started just being polite and listening and affirmative. Ever since then I have found I seem to draw people who either need to talk at me or who lack the understanding of what true conversion really is. I hear all kinds of things, sometimes data overload. I mostly keep my thoughts to myself. People really respond to anyone who actually listens. However, I disagree with all of us being tied together. Totally disagree.
Miy habitual thought pattern that jumps to conclusions without having all the facts. Cynicism and judgement. I am learning to catch myself and flip my thoughts around but it is taking a very long time.
I think awareness of children who die due to cancer. My own younger brother was killed in a car accident at the tender age of 17, 6 months before his 18th birthday. It reminds me that anyone of us can leave at anytime. It is scary and is why I treasure every moment I get with loved ones.
I am not sure. Perhaps by working to stop being so judgemental. By smiling more. By passing forward the fullness I have been lifted.
I have never thought of it as a vision for the whole world but perhaps it is. I have never been able to live anywhere quite surrounded by nature with no cars nearby or even a human nearby. So my idea of paradise is to have the choice to do that. To be free to choose when, where, and how I have contact with the world.. I also desire a society in which people get along with one another. If every human looking animal was able to rise to embrace humanity as a gift without exploiting another or th...
I have never thought of it as a vision for the whole world but perhaps it is. I have never been able to live anywhere quite surrounded by nature with no cars nearby or even a human nearby. So my idea of paradise is to have the choice to do that. To be free to choose when, where, and how I have contact with the world.. I also desire a society in which people get along with one another. If every human looking animal was able to rise to embrace humanity as a gift without exploiting another or the earth it would be a true miracle.
I like this version. But still prefer the old one. Thanks for sharing.
Would those jobs be according to our gifts? I am weary of cleaning up after other human appearing animals.
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