Living in Gratitude

In the United States, the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November is a time for being grateful for all that we have. It has become traditional to enjoy a feast in celebration of blessings. The act of gratitude carries a powerful energy, not only in making one realize how much there is to appreciate around us, but also in generating more things to be grateful for. Yes, gratitude generates more blessings, if approached in the proper way.

Many of us have been taught to be grateful, but it is often with the overshadowing idea that we should be grateful because we dont' deserve the things we have. How many times have you heard, "Everything you have is God's...Everything you receive is only by His grace"...This thought process dilutes the power of gratitude. It plants the idea that we do not deserve anything, that we are not worthy of our blessings. While it is great to appreciate God's goodness or the blessings of the Universe, we also need to remember that we are deserving of goodness. It is only when we feel that we are not deserving, that we are bad or unworthy, that we BECOME less.

Guilt makes us feel that we are less than the magnificent beings that we are. It prevents us from feeling God's love. It creates our SEPARATION from God, not our CONNECTION to God. Until we release guilt, love ourselves, and remember our perfection beneath the negativity, we cannot be ONE with God. If Hell is a separation from God, then we create our Hell through guilt, which also tells us that we do not deserve more. Hell is not a place we go to after living a "bad" life, it is what we create in our minds from feeling guilt and unworhtiness.

To return to God/Source and to our own greatness as the Divine beings we were created to be, we must give up guilt and live in true gratitude - a gratitude that includes full acceptance that we deserve our blessings. Once we begin to practice this and believe it, we know that we are here to do more, that we have a greater purpose in this world. We then remember our Oneness with God and return to Heaven, leaving behind the Hell that is simply our own creation.

In this month of giving thanks, make a list of the things you are grateful for, and do so with the thought that each and every good thing you are listing is deserved. Move beyond the things that are easily seen as "good", and become grateful for the "bad" things or the difficulties you have experienced, understanding that they were opportuntities for growth or an avenue to get you where you are now. Forgive others who you may have perceived as doing you wrong and instead be grateful for what they taught you. It will lift burdens and open you up to experience deep joy.

True and complete gratitude will bring you gifts and blessings beyond what you have ever imagined. Make your list...add to it daily....see the good in the hardship...and more importantly, see the good in yourself and know that the best is yet to come and that you deserve it. After you have listed the things you are currently grateful for, make a list of things you will be grateful for in the future...a wish list of sorts. Feel gratitude for them in advance...and watch them begin to unfold.

One of the many things I am grateful for is those of you who read my blogs and have been touched by these thoughts. You are helping me live out my purpose to love, share, and heal. Thanks to each and every one of you.

An Honest Day's Play

The phrase, "an honest day's work" is one that many of us have heard very often, with the connotation that work is always admirable and honest...and play, well not so much. We have falsely been given the impression that work is good while things that purely for pleasure are indulgent, not totally necessary in our lives. Those who play often are looked at as not serious enough, lazy, unmotivated, undisciplined. We pressure our children to strive for more, barely acknowledging their last accomplishments before pressing on to the next challenge. Our Type-A society leaves little room for out-and-out relaxation or seemingly unproductive play.

Young children know how to play. They don't even think about it, not weighing whether it would be better to reorganize their closet or chase butterflies, not admonishing themselves for playing too much or regretting what they should have gotten more tasks done instead. I believe that children are closest to God among us, because they remember pure joy. They expect that their needs will be met and are therefore able just enjoy the moment. It is not until we burden them with our society's troubles and pressures that they forget.

In Biblical context, Jesus said,
"I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3, NIV)

I believe Jesus was telling us to be like children, trust like children, play like children...to give up our worldly/adult ways of worrying, toiling, and needing to be right, to instead finding what makes us joyous and doing it. There is a popular phrase, Find Your Bliss which provides good advice. Until we find our bliss, our joy, our playfulness - until (we) become like little children - we will never be closer to God, will never fully return to Him, will never return to our true and wondrous selves and enjoy heaven. In our worldly/adult world we create hell, not knowing that heaven is in our grasp at all times. We cannot find God/Source through analyzing, debating, or arguing who is right or through jockeying for acceptance through broadcasting our ego-based achievements...We can only find that place by finding our childlike playfulness, revisiting the experience of joy and peace, letting it ripple out from us to others.

Take regular time out for an honest day's play. It is where you will find your bliss and find heaven again.