A Teaching:
When you begin to slide into despair, it is because you have lost your sense of grounding. Therefore, the tool to apply is one of gentle well-being. Put simply, your need is to count your blessings. Gratitude is a homely but effective antidote to despair.
Finding Water: Julia Cameron
A Truth:
On a typical morning, I shuffle — zombie-style — to the coffee machine, retrieve my liquid consciousness and return to my still-warm bed to journal.
I start by writing down my dreams because otherwise I’ll forget them, and I’m intrigued by Carl Jung’s theory that our dreams are the window to our soul. Next, I list what I’m grateful for at that moment and why. Here’s what I journaled recently:
I’m grateful for:
The abundance that surrounds me. Why? Because I know it could be very different.
The change of season. I’m awed and humbled by mother nature in all of her creative brilliance.
Learning. THANK YOU universe for allowing me to learn a little more about my Self every single day.
Insight and clarity. A double-edged sword, but it slices through delusion and brings me closer to my truth. And even though reality can hurt, I want to learn so I’m grateful for the lessons.
What do I get from my grateful journaling? Well, unless I’m distracted or in a rush, I often feel a calm sense of peace come over me. Sometimes for only a second or two, sometimes much longer. I know that by acknowledging what I’m grateful for, I’m connecting with the Universal Intelligence within me and all of creation. And that’s a beautiful and powerful feeling.
A Take-away:
Gratitude has been recognized as a spiritual practice for centuries. It brings our awareness to something greater than ourselves. As the wise emperor, Marcus Aurelius, said almost two thousand years ago:
“Cherish your gifts, however humble. And take pleasure in them. Spend the rest of your days looking only to the gods from whom comes every good gift and seeing no man as either master or slave.”
And just this year an article in Harvard Health states:
“Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.”
Can life be better by simply being grateful? Consider adding gratitude to your daily ritual and find out.
Let me know how it goes.
* photo was taken by me in Antarctica – January 2020
