Gratitude Magic
“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.”
~ Melody Beattie, Author
Gratitude: what a topic for a challenging period! I’ve heard the recession is over, but just try telling that to the people I see sleeping on the streets each day. It seems like most people are scared these days. What is there to be grateful for?
So much! I’m thinking that gratitude is not the same as saying “I’m happy and satisfied with how everything is.” It is the place to start. This is the best time to appreciate what’s working in our lives, so that we are better equipped to take on what is not. Ironically it’s in times of loss that we become most aware of what we actually have.
Few of you know that on November 7, twenty five years ago, I was hit by a car while riding my bicycle to school. I was 16. I was in the hospital for a week, most of that time in a coma.
I never remembered the accident itself, but when I left the hospital I felt overwhelming gratitude for things that I had never thought about before. I couldn’t believe how fortunate I was that all the skin on my face was in tact! How thankful I was for every bone in my body that wasn’t broken. How amazing it was—given the severity of the head injury–I could still speak when I regained consciousness. How lucky I was to be alive!
I soon found I had trouble concentrating. When I returned to school, I couldn’t remember the pages I had just read. And I couldn’t analyze what I could remember. Skills and talents I had known all my life weren’t there for me anymore.
I didn’t sleep through the night for a year and a half. I had panic attacks constantly. The future I had taken for granted was up for grabs. I was homeless for a semester of high school. I was suicidal. It was the hardest time of my life. And this brings me to my current gratitude:
Healing happens.
It really seemed like things would never get better. Doesn’t it always feel that way when you’re in that dark place? Eventually, the daily anxiety attacks became weekly, and that gave me hope. Then monthly. Then once every few months, and more progress. School work was hard. Everything went very slow. But it was always getting better, and I recovered.
I bring this up because what I am grateful for today is informed by where I’ve been. Bit by bit, I am manifesting everything I ever wanted. I still go through rough periods like everybody else. But when approaching the areas of life that are ready for change, it helps to start with the places of gratitude. It’s like a grounding exercise. Also, it’s hard to be proactive when you’re feeling like a victim.
1) An easy way to shift into gratitude mode is to start with an affirmation for what is true. The great thing about how our brains work is anytime you repeat something to yourself, your brain finds evidence to support what you’re saying.
Here’s one I picked up in Kundalini yoga:
Healthy am I. Happy am I. Holy am I.
Try repeating this to yourself a few times aloud and silently. Notice how your feelings shift. Where is there truth in these statements?
2) Then take out pen and paper and ask yourself:
What is most important?
What are my talents?
Who are my allies?
What is the smallest thing that gives me joy?
What else do I have going for me?
What is possible for me?
3) Make a list of your current challenges. Find an opportunity in each one. It isn’t what happens to you that matters, it’s how you respond. See how those challenges can be transformed into blessings.
Do not tell someone else that they should be grateful. That’s disrespectful, especially if they’re suffering. We can only find our own gratitude. Be an example to others, not a judge.
The first step to changing your world is to find the blessings in what already is. This is magic.
Copyright 2009 Morgana Rae… OBVIOUSLY. Wanna reprint it for your blog or e-zine? Just send me a request. Thanks!
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Wanna reprint it for your blog or e-zine? Cool! Just post a “written by Morgana Rae” credit, and tell your readers to get my FREE Money Magnet Video Gift at www.morganarae.com. Thanks!
Morgana —
How wonderful that you shared this with all of us. I really LOVE the statements from Kundalini Yoga and just wrote them on the top of my day planner so that I can refer to them often.
You are a blessing Morgana! And you were certainly saved from that accident for a reason!
And I am so grateful to know you! : )
Blessings of infinite love and gratitude!
Stephanie Bell the Spirit Coach
http://PassionatelyPOSITIVE.com
hello Morgana, you Kind Human Being,
🙂 I hope my message finds you smiling… 🙂
I have been touched and inspired by the Universe and wrote this post on my blog: http://tinyurl.com/grMorRae
I is about what I learned about the philosophy you preach. It is about turning our thoughts into something meaningful to us while being grateful to the Universe.
Thank you for your contribution to who I am,
Ioan
Thanks, Morgana! I’m going to share your 3 steps with my Power of Now Group tonight. I’m happy to know you, and grateful for everything you contribute to this world. You rock!
Would love to reprint this article on my site, http://www.singlewomenrule.com. Please let me know.
Thanks!
hi Morgana
when one is going through an emotional surgery, it is hard to say THANK YOU, it rips the guts out of you…and yet what else is left but to BE each moment …till the labour pains are over…and painfully i keep saying ‘ thank you’ a thousand times …will it be over ?
Hi, I’d like permission to put this on my blog.
blessings,
Teresa
Hey! The article is quite interesting. Thanks 🙂
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