So moving into a meditative space,
I invite you to consider,
How do you gratitude?
Gratitude isn't just about giving thanks,
It's about seeing clearly.
When I give thanks,
I'm not just being positive,
But I'm seeing life as it truly is.
Life is a blessing,
Heck,
It's a sacrament.
This world is a blessing.
As far as we know,
It's the only medium in which life like we know it has or can be.
My loved ones and my adventures are a blessing.
A bad day isn't really one where not good stuff happens,
But when I forget the blessing,
When I no longer see.
For gratitude is the natural byproduct of seeing holy,
Truly,
Honestly.
It's seeing not only have I been blessed,
But perhaps just maybe,
I in my own small way have been a blessing.
Consider the blessings that have happened for you this past year.
And consider for whom you perhaps have been a blessing.
It doesn't really matter how you gratitude,
But that you gratitude.
But I do wish to point out that how you gratitude can have a major influence on setting the creative medium into action in your life.
How you gratitude can influence your creativity,
Your sense of meaning and wholeness,
And how your blessings continue to deepen and grow.
A lot of it has to do with how present you are with your gratitude.
For most people,
Gratitude is a practice of looking to the past.
What in your past are you grateful for?
Gratitude for what has been can be a beautiful form of forgiveness.
Because when we give thanks for the past,
We are retrieving the best of what was as we move on into what is and what will be.
This is especially powerful when we find things to be grateful for from terrible things that happened to us.
You don't have to be grateful for the terrible thing,
But you can be grateful for who you became because of it.
You are not what happened to you,
You are what you choose to become.
I invite you to try this,
Especially if something past is nagging at you,
Because it may be the ultimate result is still a negative one.
But guess what?
You have the ability to start to change that.
To take an experience of being abused and turn it into being a healing presence for others.
To take an experience of being brought up and neglected.
To being a loving and nurturing parent.
To take experiences of discrimination or exclusion.
To being a champion for diversity and inclusion.
This is a powerful way to give thanks for what has been,
To become more of who you can be.
And yet,
I would also say that if you are only giving thanks for what has been,
You are missing out on using this creative principle of gratitude to create more good in your life.
It may sound funny,
But have you ever given thanks for something that hasn't happened yet?
Usually we probably call it excitement or looking forward to something.
A little unorthodox,
But powerful.
Gratitude for what is yet to come builds a consciousness of receptivity and becomes a kind of prayer.
I'm grateful for the wonderful dates I will have next year.
I'm grateful for the wonderful gifts I will receive at Christmas.
I'm grateful for the abundance that is on its way to me.
I'm grateful to live more from my heart.
I'm grateful to live a whole life,
Appreciating the blessings that come my way.
Gratitude for what has yet to come builds a consciousness of receptivity and becomes a kind of prayer.
What are you grateful for that has yet to be that you are calling into your life?
If you can see your good in your mind's eye,
If you can feel it accomplished in your heart,
If you can accept it as real,
The only thing left is the tangible experience of it right now.
And then the paradox blossoms.
Does the result lead to the inward experience,
Or does the inward experience produce the result?
Now there's one other kind of gratitude.
It's to place your gratitude in this now moment.
What are you grateful for right now?
I'm grateful for my clothes.
I'm grateful to breathe.
I'm grateful for the shelter that I am currently in.
I'm grateful to see colors.
I'm grateful to listen to music.
I'm grateful to be conscious of what I care for.
Now at first,
You may feel like someone who's gummy is starting to kick in,
But gratitude in the present moment is a much easier and healthy way to increase appreciation in the present moment.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
In the present moment,
There may be no greater prayer.
Thank you.
Thank you.
You might quietly whisper it throughout the day.
Thank you.
Thank you.
And that feeling of gratitude will be enough.
But notice the following will also be true.
An increased amount of things to be grateful for.
A sense of momentum that leads you to greater things,
As if gratitude is a pathway to even more to be grateful for.
A creative power that responds to your gratitude with even more to be grateful.
No matter how hard the day or how challenging the moment,
Just start over with thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Follow that path of gratitude into a world more true to the heart of who you are.
How do you gratitude?
It's up to you and there's no wrong way,
But I hope I've helped a little bit today to show that there is so much more to it that can produce even greater results in your life.
Thank you.
