I can’t think of a better subject than gratitude for the month in which we celebrate Thanksgiving. If the first thing I do upon waking is to say thank you, I will approach my day not with a long list of what I need to do (although that list certainly will be there), but I will instead remember that I have been trusted to live this day with awareness and care. Remembering will keep my priorities in check.
Phrases posted on Facebook, November 2024
Sometimes I think of gratitude as a big umbrella, one the keeps me sheltered from internal weather patterns like irritation, fearfulness, judgment . . . all the usual suspects.
Like rain they pelt me, but if I have a firm grip on the handle of the gratitude umbrella, I am curiously sheltered from what rains on me. I can see it as simply passing weather.
In my therapy practice I have heard many people say that upon thinking back on some of their challenges and sufferings they feel grateful for them. Something essential was gained that could not happen without them. To surrender to our difficulties as opportunities turns them from useless suffering into soul growth and gratitude.
Take a cup of coffee and realize others grew the beans, others picked them, others roasted them, others packaged them, others shipped them, others delivered them to the grocery store, others shelved them, others manufactured the coffee maker, others, made it possible for water to come out of the tap, others manufactured the stove that heated the water. We are silently united with invisible and countless others who make our life possible. To drink this cup of coffee I am filled with the work and service of others. My cup of coffee tastes of faraway places and is truly awesome.
I’m sure you have felt a little energy boost when someone thanks you for something you’ve done for them. To say thank you in our turn for things done for us makes for mutual radiance. We very much need to do this as new difficulties arrive in the future.
Why not thank our bodies for all the work they do every day. We take them for granted and are mad at them if they stop functioning at the expected level. Lately I have felt that I am being unfair if I don’t express some gratefulness for all my body does and endures. And my thanks should include good nourishment and rest. It’s the least I can do.
This may seem a little airy fairy, but I love what it does to my awareness. Try being thankful for things “ahead of time” without knowing what they will be, but that they will be right and good for you. The day will turn out to be full of little recognitions and bring on a smile or two.
To experience gratitude directly we must consciously receive. It is then that receiving, having and responding are an all “at once” experience. Deep receiving makes for deep gratitude. We lose our sense of self for a Nano second because giver, gift and being gifted are just one realized moment, a truly generous moment.
Here’ a good quote from Brother David Steindl-Rast. “Gratefulness has three steps: not missing the opportunity, appreciating the opportunity, and using and enjoying the opportunity. By this method we come fully alive, full of joy which is what we all long for.”
In her poem, Gratitude, Melody Beattie writes, “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.”
Here is Albert Schweitzer’s wisdom: ‘Sometimes our light goes but but is blown again into flame by an encounter with another human being. Each of us owes the deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this inner light.”
It is the last date of November. Now, in the midst of upcoming holiday preparations it is nourishing to be grateful for the quiet miracles that seek no attention.
