Dear friends,
Welcome to this meditation and I'm glad to see that its clichéd title attracted your interest.
In this meditation we'll express gratitude for people who have come into our lives and who have made all the difference.
Before you sat down to listen to this meditation you may have had a busy day,
You might have had a restless night.
In any event it's important that we would allow ourselves time to shake off any of our troubles or stresses and come into the wonder which is the present moment.
So take a few seconds now to make yourself comfortable,
This is your opportunity to relax,
You deserve this little stepping off the treadmill.
Close your eyes if that suits but the important thing is to allow yourself to become aware of your presence in the here and the now.
You might find it helpful to concentrate on your breathing as a means of bringing you into the here and now.
For this we can fall back on the well-known formula,
As I breathe in I notice that I'm breathing in and the same as we breathe out,
As I breathe out I notice that I am breathing out.
Now for one minute,
Just 60 seconds,
Leave the concerns of the world to one side and enjoy being here.
Since you came into my life,
The phrase sounds as if it has dropped out of the page of a How many of us owe our present happiness to the day when someone came into our lives and made a difference?
The person may have lifted us up,
Turned us around,
Set us on a new track,
Provided saving energy when our own batteries were failing.
When we cast our minds back and call to mind such a moment,
Such a person,
When we visualise writing a letter to such a person,
That well-worn phrase,
When you came into my life,
Might even be appropriate.
The action of that person,
The words said,
The advice offered,
The helping hand extended,
These gestures have made all the difference.
We would be quite different people today if it hadn't been for this encounter.
Let's pause now for another 60 seconds to look back over the years and to call to mind the person who has made such a difference to us.
Visualise the person's face,
Remember the helpful words,
The life-changing gesture.
Imagine placing a photograph of the person next to your heart.
60 seconds of gratitude.
Welcome back.
Thank you again and again and yet again.
I hope in these moments of quiet reflection,
We managed to rekindle the feelings of happiness which we felt long ago,
Thanks to the intervention of this person.
If by any chance the individual is still alive,
Still contactable,
Then this remembrance might be your signal to send a thank you note,
Make a thank you phone call,
Send an email or WhatsApp or whatever communication method suits you best.
If as can happen,
The person is no longer with us,
Let's take an opportunity to offer a silent thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
As people who have been the beneficiaries of such kindness,
We must remember to keep the kindness rolling on.
Remembering the phrase in the Christian tradition,
Freely freely you have received,
Freely freely give.
Let's keep the waves of goodness rippling out from this time and place and allow them to add to the warmth of the world.
Namaste.
