I am grateful for gratitude.
Sounds funny, right?
But honestly, gratitude has become my go-to response. It’s become my way of dealing with my fear, my impatience, and my ego-based responses.
I can’t keep from feeling these things, but I can decide how I deal with them. I can see them as feelings, as auto-pilot responses, as old patterning, andI can choose to not identify with them, to not see them as indicators of who I really am.
So when they make their inevitable appearance, I take it as a signal to practice gratitude. I grab the journal next to my bed (or anywhere in the house…I have a lot of journals sitting around), or I type on my computer, or I just think about my loves and what inspires me.
Gratitude breaks through the false and fear-based thinking of the ego. Gratitude is about seeing the truth, it’s about feeling and realizing who you are and the gifts that you have been given.
Regardless of circumstance, there is always something to be thankful for.
When I am struggling I almost see more to be thankful for – I see the sun and the moon, I fully experience my breath and I stay as close as possible to the loves in my life.
I see what is difficult to see when I am stuck in my head or stuck in the belief system that life is about stuff, jobs, money, or status.
I see my family and friends, and I realize how grateful I am that they are in my life. I am even more grateful that I know their importance.
I am thankful that I know that life is about loving me so I can love them. I am thankful that I can feel love anytime I desire by getting out of my head and placing my attention in my heart.
So when I feel like I’m being pulled down by societal fear and doom, I pull myself back up with gratitude.
It helps me remember everything. It helps me remember why I’m here.
It brings me back to reality.
Click here to listen to Cathy and her husband Todd talk about gratitude on Zen Parenting Radio.
