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Daily Question, May 11

How do I nurture my practice of gratefulness when life is difficult?

  • EJP

    Perseverance……one step at a time, one day at a time.

  • Kevin
    When life is difficult, and for example, when we’re in the middle of a crisis or emergency, being aware of what there still is to be grateful for is terribly difficult. Let’s not kid ourselves here. What has worked for me in the past, which I actually learned from doing disaster response training many years ago, is to get out a piece of paper, pause, take a breath, and make a simple list of where blessings and positive things continue to be present even as I/we are in the middle of facing a ...

    When life is difficult, and for example, when we’re in the middle of a crisis or emergency, being aware of what there still is to be grateful for is terribly difficult. Let’s not kid ourselves here. What has worked for me in the past, which I actually learned from doing disaster response training many years ago, is to get out a piece of paper, pause, take a breath, and make a simple list of where blessings and positive things continue to be present even as I/we are in the middle of facing a potentially life altering challenge. Reading our list aloud to ourselves, then folding it into our pockets further reinforces what is still good and happening. It almost seems too simple, but it works.

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    • pkr

      Kevin, thank you for your response. I too, write down the “simple” things I am grateful for in times of crises. When reviewing them they don’t seem so simple after all. Have a joy filled day.

    • Barb C

      I love the idea of carrying a list in my pocket. So much of life and so many of my thoughts take on a virtual form that could vanish. I write in a journal every day to have that actual, physical record. The list in the pocket, though–I could take that out and look at it if I needed to remember.

  • Carla

    I still say “Thank You” to the Universal source of Light when challenging times happen. I know the experience is not done to me, but for me to grow in my ability to pass it on to others. The challenges are woven into my story to be shared.

  • Michele

    By having faith and maintaining positivity. Today’s Word for the Day really exemplifies that. “Gratitude is the capacity to stare doubt, loss, chaos and despair right in the eye and say, ‘I am still here.’”

    Diana Butler Bass

    • Carol
      Hi Michele, Diana Butler Bass wrote a poem called "I Am Still here." You might be able to locate it on the Internet. Your sharing reminded me of a Process Poem I wrote in 2016. I share it below: That’s Life or Is It? by Carol Ann Conner Looking not seeing Fighting and fleeing Refusing to flow Hearing not listening Fearing and fretting Not letting go Existing not living Clinging not letting Myself be now here Moping not coping Groping not greeting Seeds that I’ve s...

      Hi Michele, Diana Butler Bass wrote a poem called “I Am Still here.” You might be able to locate it on the Internet.

      Your sharing reminded me of a Process Poem I wrote in 2016. I share it below:

      That’s Life or Is It? by Carol Ann Conner

      Looking not seeing
      Fighting and fleeing
      Refusing to flow

      Hearing not listening
      Fearing and fretting
      Not letting go

      Existing not living
      Clinging not letting
      Myself be now here

      Moping not coping
      Groping not greeting
      Seeds that I’ve sown

      Or Life is:

      Dancing, romancing
      Working and playing
      Tasting the fruit

      Giving and taking
      Facing and feeling
      Embracing my roots

      Knowledge and knowing
      Doing while being
      Self-aware

      Caring and daring
      Trusting and creating
      a world we can all share

      Read More
  • Antoinette
    Life isn’t difficult. It’s the mind set that is difficult. If I encounter a situation or experience that I label difficult then it is that way. It’s my reactions to whatever is occurring that I’m experiencing. For me gratefulness practice is also practice of humbleness and letting go over and over. I don’t think I can remove any of the elements that make up a grateful mindset - gratefulness is an open empty mind that allows everyone and everything. ( of course this isn’t always e...

    Life isn’t difficult. It’s the mind set that is difficult. If I encounter a situation or experience that I label difficult then it is that way. It’s my reactions to whatever is occurring that I’m experiencing.
    For me gratefulness practice is also practice of humbleness and letting go over and over. I don’t think I can remove any of the elements that make up a grateful mindset – gratefulness is an open empty mind that allows everyone and everything.
    ( of course this isn’t always easy to practice- I’m by no means saying I can do this always. Thanks for your support friends. )

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    • pkr

      Antoinette, love the line “….humbleness and letting go over and over”. Thank you for your thoughtful response.
      Hugs & blessings to You.❤️🙏

  • sunnypatti

    I just keep doing it. It’s my routine now. And, despite difficulties, there is always something to be grateful for.

  • Iamme

    I struggle when time poor, I often have work deadlines and can be flat out for 18 hours a day. I need to practice pausing briefly, say whilst making a drink, to step outside into my garden and take in my surroundings and feel gratitude for the gift of the day and my strength to work through it.

  • Ose
    To acknowledge the difficulties, neither ignoring them nor fighting against through reacting but be aware and find the best reply to it, in stillness or in action, and also in the mean time to re-member that life contains all in one moment, that beauty and love is present in any moment as an expression of life itself. To remember to turn awareness to it even in moments of despair. Not at all easy, and for me still work in progress, but possible. To embrace both poles in one situation or moment b...

    To acknowledge the difficulties, neither ignoring them nor fighting against through reacting but be aware and find the best reply to it, in stillness or in action, and also in the mean time to re-member that life contains all in one moment, that beauty and love is present in any moment as an expression of life itself. To remember to turn awareness to it even in moments of despair. Not at all easy, and for me still work in progress, but possible. To embrace both poles in one situation or moment brings beauty to the difficulty and deepens Love, that how it feels to me by now.

    Read More
  • Christine

    In the moments when life is difficult, the pain can overshadow everything. I just finished the anniversary of Karel’s death and I thought that I could now deal with it better. But the pain was so sharp again. What eased the pain was to remember that Karel was a very happy man. I really am very grateful for that. Living with him was wonderful, natural, loving. Then I think how nice I have had my life with him; that takes the sharpness away. My feeling are transforming into gratitude.

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