At this time of year, we are encouraged to count our blessings and to be grateful. Even in 2020, this “unprecedented year”, people are expressing gratitude for the things that are going well in their lives. Some people are expressing gratitude for family, friends, nature, abundance, and good fortune. Others are expressing gratitude for frontline workers in the medical fields and distribution chains, emergency first responders, food banks and their volunteers and contributors, and others who are making a difference in their daily lives.
Spirit urges us to continue to review all of the positive aspects in our lives. However, we are reminded that it isn’t that difficult to be grateful for these things. It is harder, and perhaps more rewarding, to be truly grateful for the situations in our lives that we don’t find to be particularly pleasant. Being grateful for when a situation pushes our buttons is the sign of someone mastering their experience. This is what we are calling the Mastery of Gratitude.
If we are only grateful for what is going well in our lives, then we are missing out on the gratitude that comes from knowing what is still dense inside of us and recognizing that it needs to be healed. Until we understand what needs to be healed, we will founder. Once we have the awareness that something makes us mad, frustrated, sad or hateful, then we can seek guidance in order to heal the discordant emotions that we still feel. We may be guided to look at the situation from a different perspective or from a larger point of view. We may be guided to look at our belief system or old patterns of behavior which are contributing to the discordant emotions. Then, we ask to clear / heal the issues. When we do this, the situation no longer triggers the negative response or at least, doesn’t trigger as negative of a response. The more we allow for this healing, the less and less we will be triggered.
After she traveled to India for a spiritual journey, according to Wikipedia, Alanis Morrissett and her writing partner, Glen Ballard, wrote the song Thank U. The lyrics might not sound like the things you normally hear at a Thanksgiving Day gratitude circle with your family members. Here is part of the song.
How bout me not blaming you for everything
How bout me enjoying the moment for once
How bout how good it feels to finally forgive you
How bout grieving it all one at a time
Thank you India
Thank you terror
Thank you disillusionment
Thank you frailty
Thank you consequence
Thank you thank you silence
The moment I let go of it
Was the moment I got more than I could handle
The moment I jumped off of it
Was the moment I touched down
How bout no longer being masochistic
How bout remembering your divinity
How bout unabashedly bawling your eyes out
How bout not equating death with stopping
Thank you India
Thank you Providence,
Thank you disillusionment
Thank you nothingness
Thank you clarity
Thank you thank you silence…
Perhaps we should start a new tradition – expressing gratitude for the potential to heal after recognizing issues that underlie the pain we feel. The more we master gratitude, the more we will master the illusion, and the more we will be the Masters That We Are.
Gratitude to Swmiananda with Pixabay.com for the above image “Namaste”.