On Gratitude

In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy.
***Albert Clarke


Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
***Marcel Proust


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. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.
***Melodie Beattie

What Part Are You Playing?

It is so easy to blame everything on our "leaders", and expect them to do it all for us. Each leader is US. Each of us is the change. Each of us carries the responsibility. The world cannot change unless each one of us changes. However small your effort, begin now.

~ An Open Letter to the Leaders of the World ~
On one hand, we want to thank you. You have provided us with such adversity and it is this that has finally made us stronger. You have been formidable foes, but we are learning that this world will get better only when we love our fellow travelers and see the good in each one of them. We know that every bad guy has a good guy inside. And we know that spark of divine essence that dwells deep within our own beings, also lies deep within yours.

If you were to come and join us at our table, you would find curiosity, friendship, and forgiveness. Just because you have treated us badly does not mean that we hold a grudge against you. We would, however, expect you to understand that we reject your authority and that you will find no support for your plans and schemes among us. We simply no longer choose to be manipulated.

Although there will be obstacles, we are willing to start over. We are prepared to be responsible for our own lives now. We must discard your Cards, Vaccines, and Chip Implants because they have too many strings attached. We must turn off your television and radio programs until their messages become uplifting. And we will start to rebuild our lives, without your help, by first living together in small self-sufficient communities. If need be, we will grow our own food in our backyards as well as in common areas, and we will barter and trade among ourselves. We will also nurture our children with foresight, and learn to love and heal each other so peace and freedom can return to all of our lives.

As we see it, you are also being stalked by your own evolution and you will change. You cannot avoid being drawn out of your secrecy at this time. The only path left for you to follow is one of conscience. Like us, you are realizing that there is no separation between you and what you perceive. We are all beginning to understand that when we inflict pain or hardship on others, we inflict it upon ourselves. Once you fully comprehend what you are doing to yourself, you won't be able to continue. Enlightenment is coming to all who renounce conflict and violence. Even an unscrupulous, sophisticated robber baron can evolve into a higher, more loving entity. He is no less entitled to the Grace of our Great Creator than the people he has conspired against.

Just that one small transformation in your attitude whereby you begin to see, without blinders, that you only lack the opening of your heart in order to take the next step -- a step for which you are poised and ready, but which all of your power and money cannot provide for you. Isn't it ironic, now, that you have dared for generations to hide our own hearts from us? Ever since we were trusting little schoolchildren reciting your pledges and practicing your patriotic ceremonies, you deceptively taught us to place our hand over our heart on the left side of our chest! Only now are we locating our hearts in the exact center of our chests, and we are learning how to activate the ­wondrous feelings that have long slept dormant within us.

The people of the Earth yearn for the day when we will all live together in peace. You cannot stop us from advancing toward the love we all deserve. That glorious moment nears, when, instead of being adversaries, we will stand together as brothers and sisters whose consciences have awakened, as equals whose time of heaven on Earth has come.

Until then: for all the people who needlessly suffer and die because of your economic and political manipulations; and for all the animals who face extinction or life in a cage that doesn't even allow them enough space to turn around; and for all the beautiful plants and trees of the forests who burn indiscriminately, we ask one last question. Why must you continue to bring harm and havoc to all the living things of the Earth when your own truest happiness would automatically come from helping us instead?

From The Intenders of the Highest Good Novel

Change

Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.
The Buddha

Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
Harold Whitman

We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow-men; and along those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects.
Herman Melville

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.
George Bernard Shaw

The greatest revolution in our generation is that of human beings, who by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.
Marilyn Fergusen

Saying Yes to The Universe

From the Daily OM:

The hardest thing about saying yes to the universe is that it means accepting everything life puts in front of us. Most of us have a habit of going through our days saying no to the things we don’t like and yes to the things we do, and yet, everything we encounter is our life. We may be afraid that if we say yes to the things we don’t like, we will be stuck with them forever, but really, it is only through acknowledging the existence of what’s not working for us that we can begin the process of change. So saying yes doesn’t mean indiscriminately accepting things that don’t work for us. It means conversing with the universe, and starting the conversation with a very powerful word—yes.

When we say yes to the universe, we enter into a state of trust that whatever our situation is, we can work with it. We express confidence in ourselves, and the universe, and we also express a willingness to learn from whatever comes our way, rather than running and hiding when we don’t like what we see. The question we might ask ourselves is what it will take for us to get to the point of saying yes. For some of us, it takes coming up against something we can’t ignore, escape, or deny, and so we are left no choice but to say yes. For others, it just seems a natural progression of events that leads us to making the decision to say yes to life.

The first step to saying yes is realizing that in the end it is so much easier than the alternative. Once we understand this, we can begin examining the moments when we resist what is happening, and experiment with occasionally saying yes instead. It might be scary at first, and even painful at times, but if we continue to say yes to every moment through the process, we will discover the joy of being in a positive conversation with a force much bigger than ourselves.

Happiness

Some of us think the life must be complex, and look deep and hard into everything in the hope of discovering happiness. "If only....."
becomes our theme, but the harder we work at discovering happiness, the more elusive it becomes.

What is certain is that happiness is not about "things".....about having more or different things. If you will pay attention to the small glimmerings of joy that you feel, and then bring more of those moments into your life, you will be on the right path. Laugh all you can!

Nobody else knows your reason for being. You do. Your bliss guides you to it. When you follow your bliss, when you follow your path to joy, your conversation is of joy, your feelings are of joy -- you're right on the path of that which you intended when you came forth into this physical body. Abraham/Hicks

Going Through a Phase

The following is from the Daily OM. As is frequently the case, it arrived in my mailbox at just the right time! Having recently returned from Peru, I feel quite off balance as I struggle to get once again accustomed to our incredible comfort, luxury, and wealth and, yet, so actively living in fear. The word "accustomed" isn't quite the right one. It's really acceptance for which I struggle, acceptable of that which I cannot change....and the courage to change that which I can.

We are all almost always in the process of learning something new, developing an underused ability or talent, or toning down an overused one. Some of us are involved in learning how to speak up for ourselves, while others are learning how to be more considerate. In the process of becoming, we are always developing and fine tuning one or the other of our many qualities, and it is a natural part of this process that things tend to get out of balance. This may be upsetting to us, or the people around us, but we can trust that it’s a normal part of the work of self-development.

For example, we may go through a phase of needing to learn how to say no, as part of learning to set boundaries and take care of ourselves. During this time, we might say no to just about everything, as a way of practicing and exploring this ability. Like a child who learns a new word, we want to try out this new avenue of expression and empowerment as much as we can because it is new and exciting for us and we want to explore it fully. In this way, we are mastering a new skill, and eventually, as we integrate it into our overall identity, it will resume its position as one part of our balanced life

Life is Good!

When we can be fully present in every job that we do, we bring the fullness of our bodies, minds and spirits to the moment. Our contribution is enhanced by the infusion of our talents and abilities, and when we give them willingly, they attract the right people and circumstances into our experience. Anything we do begrudgingly limits the flow of our energy and closes us off from the good that is available to us in every situation. But by giving the best in us to make the world around us better, we open ourselves to receive the best from the universe in return. (from the Daily OM)