Reflections

Please log in or Create a Profile to post a comment.

  1. c
    carol

    My first thoughts tended to– my life is very empty of fullness: not feeling or thinking reciprocity of being loved, valued, cared about. Thoughts of desire exists to have these experiences. No worries this focusing on what is missing is suffering, to live is to suffer, and to find and travel a path that relieves suffering, and all things like thoughts and views and perceptions will change with actions, as the Buddhist saying goes, we can’t step into the same river twice. Maybe I just need to step back into the river.
    So I looked up the verse– John 10 … 7 Therefore Jesus said again, ‘Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.https://hopechurchfamily.org/sermons/life-in-all-its-fullness-john-101-10-3-may-2020/
    And then as a practitioner of Buddhism- ‘ …Three Gates of Liberation which lead us to the “House of Nirvana.” If we wish to be liberated from vexations, sufferings, and karmic hindrance, we have to personally realize the truth of emptiness, no-form, and no-vow.https://www.dharmadrum.org/portal_d8_cnt_page.php?folder_id=7&cnt_id=16&up_page=2
    Action is required of me. The question– will I take action?

    10 months ago
  2. Robin Ann

    My Great fullness is my children. Funny as I write this I know my Mother was exactly the same way!
    I am tonight very grateful that my daughter is in a new holistic healing treatment center as of this morning and she seems eager and willing to start to get better. They offer meditation, yoga and learning about nutrition. I am feeling hopeful that this program will click with her : ). My son is also in very good spirits the last 2 days so this “Mother” will be taking off for an overnight on my happy place “sailboat” this weekend for some much needed R & R. Enjoy the long week-end all!!

    10 months ago
    1. A
      Ana Maria

      I am so happy for you and your children. As a mother myself I can relate to feeling of well being when our children are doing ok. What a powerful connection, never ending. Thank you for standing by your daughter. She needs to know she is loved without conditions and you have given her that. Blessings to all of you.

      10 months ago
  3. O.Christina

    Being deeply grateful for the moments of connection and love shared today with my father, a heartbeat of – and door to the great fullness which always is. When it is there, it is everywhere. 🙇🙏

    10 months ago
  4. Don Jones

    I think it is when I create with my hands. Working on designs, then drawing up plans, then cutting and shaping timber, through to finishing. And of course, standing back to admire what has been brought forth.

    10 months ago
  5. Linda

    Since I retired I have more time to just “be.” There is great fullness in having no schedule, and plenty of time to be with my husband, friends and family. It has been an absolute delight.

    10 months ago
    1. Michele

      I am 54 and can’t wait to retire:)

      10 months ago
  6. Banning

    this is a pretty personal question I feel and kinda hard to answer… not really sure what to say without sounding like some kinda emo teenage haha… probably the best but still vague answer I can come up with is some of the people in my life give me “great fullness”

    10 months ago
  7. pkr

    My relationship with the Divine makes up the great fullness of my life. My time spent immersed in the wonders of Mother Nature. The awe & wonder I feel surrounded by her glory, literally fills me up with Joy.
    My daughter, friends, my husband, poetry, art, music add fullness to my blessed life.
    And my morning cup of Joe!!!
    Happy Friday to All.😊

    10 months ago
  8. luv-1-nutter

    “When the body is sad, the heart languishes” – Albert Camus
    I see fullness is the fulfilment of comfort and knowing how to communicate my needs.
    Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for. – Epicurus

    10 months ago
  9. A
    Ana Maria

    What a wonderful question! I immediately knew that my husband, my children and their loved ones and my almost eleven months granddaughter fill my heart with great fullness. My life is wonderful because they are in it. The outdoors, the river near my home is icing on the cake. I go to the river to be centered, to let go of a bit of worry that I carry with me from childhood. Now at 66 years old I finally get the time to center around this worry and learn to manage it. Focusing on my loved ones gives me peace. Thank you to all of you that share your wisdom every day, you help me more than you know. Blessings to all of you!

    10 months ago
  10. Barb C

    Applause for the play on words! My life has so much abundance. Right now I’m full of blue sky, birds calling, cool air moving past, coffee in my cup, my sweetheart nearby in the next room, the comfort of a soft blanket, feeling hungry and looking forward to breakfast with eggs from my friend’s happy and highly entertaining chickens and Yukon Gold potatoes cooked into Syracuse salt potatoes. I can be full in each and every moment. Beyond this moment, I have friends, family I love who love me, fulfilling work that makes a difference, good health overall, happiness with the choice we made to move to this town 2-1/2 years ago, long walks with my sweetheart, bike rides in the sunshine, and many books waiting to be read.

    10 months ago
  11. Rabbit

    When I first read the question, I just thought of how I so often feel overwhelmed with all the things that I think I need to do. Maybe the “great fullness” comes from the wisdom I have read, about thinking of those things, as things I get to do instead of need to do. After open heart surgery, I should know this. But even as I type this that judgmental word “should” creeps in. Habits are hard to change.

    10 months ago
  12. Yram

    Today’s question is timely. I was bemoaning the fact that my biological family is very distant but I have so much fullness around me. I want to tap into that! The wind has diminished, the sky is so very blue and there are promises of things to come. In my body I feel serenity. Right now that is “grate full ness.”

    10 months ago
  13. Pilgrim

    Family and Friends.

    10 months ago
  14. Charlie T

    Simply being connected to others.
    I found out the hard way, what happens
    when I let these important relationships
    wither. I am now a cultivator and tender
    of connections.

    10 months ago
  15. Carol

    When I read today’s question, I could not get past today’s quote from Etty Hillesum: “Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it towards others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world.”

    My religious upbringing was filled with so many rules and regulations. I was taught that grace had to be earned, that God would not love me if I was not perfect, and on and on. Anxiety was and is my constant companion. I was so afraid of failure that I missed out on so many opportunities to be fully alive. So now, in the winter of my life, when many of my talents are limited by physical challenges and limitations, I am blessed with the realization that being kind to both my self and others is always a choice that can never be taken away or lost. We are all called “to be the peace we seek, the love we crave, the light in the darkness that can shine even when the reaper rides.” I have finally learned and accepted that: Life is process not product. We are each the vulnerability of God called to be willing instruments of evolutionary change. This is the great fullness of my life: to be the peace I seek and be willing to share it moment to moment.

    10 months ago
    1. Joseph McCann

      Thank you for that wonderful reflection Carol.

      10 months ago
    2. Yram

      Very well said. I felt “peace” as I read your entry. Thank you. You have the gift of words!

      10 months ago
      1. Carol

        Yram, Thank you. You made my day very full!

        10 months ago
1 2

Subscribe to Grateful Living

Give yourself the gift of free bi-monthly inspiration including uplifting articles, diverse stories, supportive practices, videos, and more, delivered with heart to your inbox.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Customize your subscription