MARCH NEWSLETTER

PRACTICING GRATITUDE

"A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues."

Cicero

I woke up at four this morning to the sounds of rustling in the living room. I stumbled into the room following the light all the way to Nicole’s bedroom. There Nicole sat at her computer, her newborn baby, Nai’a Rose, sleeping peacefully on the bed. Nicole casually shared that while she was changing Nai’a Rose’s diaper the baby had yet another, bigger, bowl movement right there all over the table. My first response, as I looked at the peaceful face of a baby who was fully sated on both ends, was "What a blessings it is that she is a good pooper". I know what discomfort, for all concerned, can come when a baby isn’t able to poop.

As we move into the holiday season I am once again reminded of the practice of gratitude. In all the major religions gratitude plays an important role. In America we have the thanksgiving holiday which, although cloaked in the myth of a friendly take over of another cultures nation, does highlight gratitude. It comes at harvest time, a time when we reap the bounty of the hard work we’ve done all spring and summer. It signals a time of laying fallow while the weather has its way with the land. This is a profound time to be grateful for the earth and its riches.

When I pay my bills every Friday I sit at my desk and line them up in front of me. I light a candle and settle into a self-imposed peaceful state. I remind myself how wonderful it is to have the money to pay my bills. If times are tight I tighten the belt and, knowing that I will weather this storm, feel grateful for whatever I have at the time. It is a state of gratitude which attracts to it more of the same just as a person who is in a state of love attracts friends. The great metaphysician Charles Fillmore wrote, "Words of praise, gratitude, or thanksgiving expand, set free, and in every way radiate energy...You can praise a weak body into strength; a fearful heart into peace and trust; shattered nerves into poise and power; a failing business into prosperity and success; want and insufficiency into supply and support." As I sit at my desk counting my blessings I allow the goodness of life to fill me up. I used to walk away from a bill paying session full of tension. Now, since I began this practice, I walk away lighter, happier and with a feeling of abundance.

A friend of mine said, "Well that’s all good for you to feel gratitude but your life is going well." It’s easy to feel gratitude when things are going well. That’s not really a practice but a spontaneous feeling. The practice begins when there is a challenge to well being. Then gratitude is engaged in with intent to change our consciousness, to become aware of a deeper level of reality. As long as we can breath we can love. As long as we can breath we can appreciate the gift of life. As long as we can breath we can become one with our source.

It was during the most difficult times in my life that the practice of gratitude sustained me. When I was going through a searingly painful time in my life I disciplined myself to not go to bed until I wrote down 10 things that I was grateful for that day. At first I struggled to find things to write but as time went on I started noticing more and more subtle beauty around me. At first I wrote things like, "I am grateful for my bed. I am grateful for the roof over my head, I am grateful for being alive today". As time went on I began to notice the sweetness of details such as, "refreshing talk with my friend Ruth", and "a cool breeze after a hot day" After awhile I could write far more than 10 things I was grateful for. Then I had to make myself stop and go to bed!

I find that when I start off the holiday season with a strong gratitude practice it sets up a time of wonder and magic. What a wonderful gift we give our families when we infuse our own consciousness with gratitude. The practice is simple but extremely powerful. Give it a try and find our for yourself!

November practice: purchase a notebook which will be your gratitude journal. Put it by your bed with a pen. Before going to bed each night write 10 things that you are grateful for that day. Commit to trying this for a month.

Jacqueline