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Daily Question, December 22

How does being mortal deepen your sense of gratefulness?

  • Melissa

    Looking at Jupiter with it’s 4 moons and Saturn with it’s spectacular rings the other night through a telescope. The mystery and beauty of the universe gave me such a sense of wonder and gratefulness to be human on this planet Earth. I felt so small but connected and that gave me such comfort.

  • Malag

    The answer I gave to a different question a few days ago: “Dying. Few of us know where the finishing line is but I know I’m a year nearer than last year. Time to look out the window and appreciate the scenery.”

  • Cheryle
    Some days I can still fall into the trap of experiencing a little bit of angst at growing older! Even though I am aware growing older is in and of itself a gift! However, I try not to allow myself to dip my big toe into this cesspool of quicksand, because, once the toe is in it doesn't take long for the ruminating body to follow! This gratitude group and the daily practices are truly teaching me how wonderful each new day is if I choose to embrace being here now!! I try to find a balance betwe...

    Some days I can still fall into the trap of experiencing a little bit of angst at growing older! Even though I am aware growing older is in and of itself a gift! However, I try not to allow myself to dip my big toe into this cesspool of quicksand, because, once the toe is in it doesn’t take long for the ruminating body to follow! This gratitude group and the daily practices are truly teaching me how wonderful each new day is if I choose to embrace being here now!! I try to find a balance between being productive and resting these days… pacing myself so that I can stay as healthy as possible. I try to be aware there are many, many people suffering and in dire straights. Hence, I do try to participate in giving a helping hand where and when I can as a form of contributing in some small way. I love to hear the laughter of the children next door as they splash around in their pool and I am extremely grateful I can enjoy sitting at my easel drawing this and that… Thank you to each and everyone of you for your encouraging and uplifting shares… may you all be safe, happy and healthy over this holiday season!

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  • Hot Sauce

    Being mortal helps me remember not to take the time I DO have on this earth for granted. I want to do great things and make great changes in the world with the help of others, but I have to remember that I can’t always say, “Someday, I want to…” Eventually, someday will be now. I will die, and I try to remember that I would rather die knowing that I did something for the world rather than die regretting the time I squandered.

  • Dusty Su
    In 2004, I bled to death. I was alone in a foreign country without resources. The supposedly terrible event was one of the best experiences of my life. I was very angry when I was sent back. I tried to leave my body again and couldn’t. My two main takeaways, among the many, were: 1. Dying is easy, living is the hard part. But live fully until you die. 2. Because I was created by Divine Love to be loved, love, and then BE love, so was everyone else. My finitude opens to vast spaces, so does y...

    In 2004, I bled to death. I was alone in a foreign country without resources. The supposedly terrible event was one of the best experiences of my life. I was very angry when I was sent back. I tried to leave my body again and couldn’t.

    My two main takeaways, among the many, were:
    1. Dying is easy, living is the hard part. But live fully until you die.
    2. Because I was created by Divine Love to be loved, love, and then BE love, so was everyone else.

    My finitude opens to vast spaces, so does yours.

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    • Cheryle
      Dear Dusty what an experience... I feel sometimes I "grasp" at life not really ever wanting it to come to an end... and yet, your experience was the opposite, you wanted to leave... It is only since I retired I have become aware how easy it is/was for me to take "time" and living so much for granted. I do try to be more conscious now of this beautiful gift of life and I try to be a little bit kinder these days...thank you for sharing I always enjoy reading your posts. Hope you are set for a gent...

      Dear Dusty what an experience… I feel sometimes I “grasp” at life not really ever wanting it to come to an end… and yet, your experience was the opposite, you wanted to leave… It is only since I retired I have become aware how easy it is/was for me to take “time” and living so much for granted. I do try to be more conscious now of this beautiful gift of life and I try to be a little bit kinder these days…thank you for sharing I always enjoy reading your posts. Hope you are set for a gentle time over Christmas in spite of the many challenges you are facing ♥️✨🙏

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      • Dusty Su
        Thanks Cheryle, and to you too this beautiful Season. Ha, yes, I was mad about being made to return. But well, I do grasp at life too many years later, I also realize how I could savor it more. I do not waste it per se, but I do not savor it enough always. One thing that helps me is I post photos a lot, or short writings, on Facebook and I view them daily on my memories app. That is up to 12 years' worth of memories each day. It is a wonderful thing to see what I have experienced and appreciat...

        Thanks Cheryle, and to you too this beautiful Season.
        Ha, yes, I was mad about being made to return. But well, I do grasp at life too many years later, I also realize how I could savor it more. I do not waste it per se, but I do not savor it enough always. One thing that helps me is I post photos a lot, or short writings, on Facebook and I view them daily on my memories app. That is up to 12 years’ worth of memories each day. It is a wonderful thing to see what I have experienced and appreciate them all over again, sometimes more in the passing or loss of them. Especially when seeing memories of times shared with those who have died, or places I have left. This makes my life richer. Reminiscing richness an excellent tool.
        With Love “n” Laughter,
        Dusty

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        • Cheryle

          That’s lovely what a terrific way to hold those memories in your heart… your authenticity makes me smile and helps me know it’s all good! 😂♥️

    • Ed Schulte
      Thank You for sharing this experience! And it is very timely considering that a very large part of the worlds population is about to celebrate the arrival in bodily form of a Being who demonstrated many time the very same ability, that of leaving the physical body and returning as one wills to. He also de-materialized and re-materialized it when attached / thrown of cliffs etc ....and these are in the New Testament along with Philipos' abilities to do the same. Unfortunately more of the current ...

      Thank You for sharing this experience! And it is very timely considering that a very large part of the worlds population is about to celebrate the arrival in bodily form of a Being who demonstrated many time the very same ability, that of leaving the physical body and returning as one wills to. He also de-materialized and re-materialized it when attached / thrown of cliffs etc ….and these are in the New Testament along with Philipos’ abilities to do the same. Unfortunately more of the current day clergy do not understand this ..to them its just words on a piece of paper. And on we go!

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      • Dusty Su

        Thank you for getting it. So, being comfortable yet well challenged in a mix of body and spirit is a glorious thing!

        • Ed Schulte
          It is indeed “glorious” and limitlessly amazing too! …but not to the earth bond intellectual mind set with their ‘fixed ideas’. I have on occasion describe my adventures to some of them ( in what the Greeks of old name this experience….. “Exomatosis”.)… but it doesn’t go over very well most of the time. So I just play it safe and point out that actually ….everybody exists their material bodies very night …in their deepest sleep patterns. That is exactly what "popsicle toe...

          It is indeed “glorious” and limitlessly amazing too! …but not to the earth bond intellectual mind set with their ‘fixed ideas’. I have on occasion describe my adventures to some of them ( in what the Greeks of old name this experience….. “Exomatosis”.)… but it doesn’t go over very well most of the time. So I just play it safe and point out that actually ….everybody exists their material bodies very night …in their deepest sleep patterns. That is exactly what “popsicle toes” are all about! 🙂

          Be Well!

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  • Don Jones

    My life is but a very brief moment in this unfathomable 13.8 billion year old universe. What a wonderful privilege and experience this brief life is.

  • Pollyanna Gladwell

    Everybody who has written before me today has already expressed my answer to this wonderful question. So today I gave everyone a “heart” from my heart.

    Peace, joy and love to everyone!

  • Linda

    I have limited time on this earth. My mission in life has always been to help others, and I will continue this until my time is over. I am grateful for the opportunities I have had in this lifetime.

  • DeVonna

    Aging is a gift denied to so many, it is a sin for me to complain about the fleeing of my youth. When I think of all the people who have died in wars, the sacrifice of someone else’s political ideals, I am ashamed to complain about my aging body’s aches and pains.

    Life is a tender miracle. It should be experienced humbly and gratefully, with a deep sense of the mystery that has favored us.

    Blessings to you, Friends.

  • MelaD

    Being a human with finite seasons, gratitude expands my perspective of life as a gift to be enjoyed and shared with others. Gratitude deepens my wish, my want, to live fully now rather than regret what I might have done or said because I was too fearful of fill-in-the-blank.

  • CherylWW

    Although I can’t know my expiration date, my time on earth is limited, and my responsibility is to make the most of every moment. Being mortal has gifted me with the ability to enjoy this world through my six senses.

  • Ineke Bennink

    When I realize that I will die, I want to live even more intensively

  • Mark Piper

    I tend to focus more on the ‘what’ (as in, this is what I am grateful for or what gift is this?) and the ‘why’ (amateur philosophy and sophomoric curiosity, ‘why am I so lucky,’ or why did God bless me with X?) than the how.

    Though I, and all that I think and don’t think, do and don’t do, say and don’t say will in equal measures pass away with me, I still feel there’s the gift of contribution that continues after me. Might as well know where I stand, stand there and be grateful for that.

  • Papilio

    Being mortal helps me take a moment to savor the beauty in nature and people around me. I realize that each day is a gift. Time to time, though, I drift away from grateful practices until I realize that my grateful living requires regular practices.

  • Ed Schulte
    It is only through the “mortal” experience, the experiencing of duality, that one’s Infinite Self can be realized, understood, and the progression in and beyond the so-called “Heavens ( seventh and beyond ) can Be. All Humans are after all ‘Infinite BE-ings'. The God Man Joshua Immanuel, the Christ, came into Human form 2000 plus years ago for the singulaer purpose of demonstrating and reminding Humans what, and who, we really are. He was AND IS the perfect example of our "gift BE-in...

    It is only through the “mortal” experience, the experiencing of duality, that one’s Infinite Self can be realized, understood, and the progression in and beyond the so-called “Heavens ( seventh and beyond ) can Be. All Humans are after all ‘Infinite BE-ings’.

    The God Man Joshua Immanuel, the Christ, came into Human form 2000 plus years ago for the singulaer purpose of demonstrating and reminding Humans what, and who, we really are. He was AND IS the perfect example of our “gift BE-ing Human BE-ings”, The ultimate gift, the one which will always be far beyond anything the human intellectual mind can understand….. and yet, because it can only truly be experienced in the heart, can it be equally expressed as Infinite Gratefulness!

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    • expati

      For me, the experience of duality is illusion. There is only One and Love. Check out the Course in Miracles.

      • Ed Schulte

        ACIM is conveyed though an Eastern psyche , ( one has to be carful with “channellers” they have their agendas) hence the annihilation approach. Joshua Emanuel and the Essenes are of Theosis …..IOW there is no “Nirvana” …no disappearance of Selfhood …only one continuous evaluation of BE-ing-ness and of course Love …because Divine Love is the source …never a sudden “poof” into non-existence…that is not the purpose of Love. Be Well Be PresentEdS

  • Patricia

    I go to the eye doctor annually to get my glasses prescription adjusted as my vision changes… and like that, coming to terms with my mortality is what brings my sense of gratitude into finer and finer focus. I can see everything better. I suppose I could choose to be resentful that this life is going to end; I choose instead to focus clearly on the gift of life and on how grateful I am for it.

    • Cheryle

      Just love the reference to glasses and focussing! Reading your share made me all aglow with joy and what a privilege it truly is to be here now enjoying life in this precious present moment… thank you so much Patricia!

  • sunnypatti
    This body has moved me thru 48 years (so far!) of all kinds of things, from riding my bike around all the neighborhoods I've lived in, surfing lots of waves, floating in creeks, playing with pets and friends, practicing yoga, dancing at concerts or just in my own living room.... even the injuries I've experienced and recovered from. While I may not think about it in the moment, they all remind me of my mortality. I studied A Course in Miracles for a bit, and I am often reminded of one of the man...

    This body has moved me thru 48 years (so far!) of all kinds of things, from riding my bike around all the neighborhoods I’ve lived in, surfing lots of waves, floating in creeks, playing with pets and friends, practicing yoga, dancing at concerts or just in my own living room…. even the injuries I’ve experienced and recovered from. While I may not think about it in the moment, they all remind me of my mortality. I studied A Course in Miracles for a bit, and I am often reminded of one of the many lessons it taught – I am not a body. I am currently IN a body, but I am so much more than this body. I’m grateful for this body I’m in, but I know that it won’t last forever. But while I am still in it, I will treat it with love and take good care of it, something I’ve learned to do more the past few years than I did when I was younger.

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  • devy

    Being mortal means that our time on earth is finite. We do not know when our time will come to depart this world . We should appreciate every day, live each day to its fullest and appreciate having the opportunity of being alive.

  • Trish

    This is a temporary gig & that means it’s imperative that I relish it all, learning to glean the beauty & wisdom of the painful & “ugly” along with celebrating simple beauty. 2021 is a good year to deepen my laugh lines…..

  • Mike S

    My mortality asks me to think seriously about what I am doing with this life.

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