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Think Green: Thanksgiving on Vashon

November 27, 2008 at 5:35 am Leave a comment

 Do you know the force of gratitude? How every day can be Thanksgiving?

There’s no doubt you’ve heard the expression “Gratitude is an attitude” and so it is. At the same time, gratitude is a wonderful topic to consider for the potential and instantaneous impact it can have on your life. An attitude is an expression of free will and an integral part of leading a fully autonomous life. It means choosing to honor what IS by simply acknowledging what’s presently taking place. Think for a moment about the lasting impact of an acknowledgement from someone significant in your life. And so, being grateful is a way of being; an experience you cultivate by choice. If there ever was a magic pill, gratitude is it!

To be in gratitude is to hold and admire the gifts of life no matter their size or origin. I discovered that the word gratitude is connected to the word grace. What a wonderful notion that whenever you adopt an attitude of gratitude, you invite grace into your experience. If you’re not the religious type, you certainly don’t have to think of this as God’s grace. In fact, words often have many definitions for you to choose from. You might prefer another meaning of grace such as: “pleasing quality or beauty of form and movement “. Imagine your life flowing with elegance in such a way that it’s a thing of beauty to notice yourself and to have others notice you living so gracefully. Yes, gratitude can do that.

And still there are more ways to describe gratitude and grace including “to praise or welcome”. How lovely to realize that speaking of the goodness of your life then serves to invite and embrace even greater blessings. Think of it as the flow of energy. Gratitude begins a cycle that fuels the forward expansion of life. Without you as the instrument of that flow, the process would fail. Everything within your circle of influence is energized by sweet thankfulness whenever you open the gifts of the present. Yes, gratitude can do that too.

And it is just that, an opening. Being grateful, and thereby graceful, is about accessing the jewels once concealed by your heart. It’s a veritable treasure chest, open to shine its contents upon all onlookers. From that place, there is trust and confidence. From that place there is connection to the infinite within you and the endless rewards made available through appreciation. The door to your heart need not be closed for fear of theft. Closing the door through an unnecessary desire for security only serves to end that benevolent flow. It’s ONLY by choosing the experience of gratefulness in the HERE and NOW that you make yourself available to the living riches that exist for you in the days and years ahead.

It is that energy flow which begins to address the underlying force of gratitude. To be sincerely grateful for all that you have been blessed with, both tangible and intangible, means that you’re actively and intentionally creating a relationship with the best life has to offer. But how can you be thankful for the events of life that are painful? That is a matter of perspective. It’s a matter of honoring your pain, not as instrument of suffering, but as a profoundly wise teacher.

That was so of my marriage which ended after eight difficult years. Throughout the relationship I had been angry, sad, depressed and considered myself to be the victim. Had I been treated unfairly? Yes. Had I been shown on-going hostility? For sure. But my former husband was the single most powerful teacher I’ve ever had. He taught me how truly capable I am; that I can make good choices and safeguard my boundaries. Most importantly, his unwillingness to really show up in our marriage mirrored my own unwillingness to show up for me. Had he abandoned his spoken vows to me or had I unwittingly abandoned myself by never taking my own vow in the first place? How could I honor myself when I’d never acknowledged myself? Fortunately in the end, I never lost the true me, I only misplaced her temporarily. And when she returned, she came back more powerful, more resolute, and more committed to living with compassion and purpose than ever before. For these lessons, I thanked my ex-husband. I expressed my deepest gratitude to him for loving me enough to set me free. There is an expression which says “Before the bird can fly, the shell must break” which illustrates how painful fractures in your emotional body are in fact necessary openings to the blessings in store for you.

And you know, I believe my shift in perspective about my marriage fostered the friendship that he and I now have. It’s the relationship we never had when we were married and it’s the cornerstone of our raising a healthy, happy child together.

So I invite you to experience the force of gratitude in your own path to prosperity. In the words of Melodie Beattie:

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…. It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

My challenge to you is to express gratitude once each day for a week. Go beyond a simple thank you and let someone know how they made your life better. Make your Thanksgiving specific and personal. And know that your spoken gifts may be treasured for a lifetime.

Until next time, I leave you with abundant peace.

 Joyanne

Entry filed under: Think Green. Tags: Vashon Thanksgiving, Vashon think gree.