Gratitude

I started this blog with the intention of comparing great daily life habits, and personal growth with those “basics” that we use in cooking.  Just as every great dish starts with an onion, musn’t every great day start with something? 

Oddly, I had not come far enough on my life path to even appreciate the sagacity of my intention.  Looking back, I feel as if I were looking at a high schooler’s great idea – all sound and Fury, but signifying nothing. 

What change has occurred in me in two years since I last wrote?  How has life progressed, and how much more do I realize the ned for one massive, hearty onion at the beginning of each great day?

I used to scoff at personal development books and cds.  I used to scorn the happy people in this world.  Inside, I am sure I was jealous, and poorly masked my desire to be the same….otherwise why come up with such an amazing intention via this blog? 

I want to know how to live a good life.  I want to know how to make each dish, each day, savory and unforgettable.  I have learned so much about this through starting my own direct sales business, and having the success (and yes the trials) I have had. I have come to a point where intense personal development is not just a recommended ingredient…it is the star of the dish.  And in pursuit of this, it was recommended to me the I read “The Power of Now” by Eckart Tolle.  It was a life changing book.  It really made you understand how much more powerful we all are when we live in the moment, not weighted down by yesterday’s failures, or chained by tomorrow’s fears.

In the book, Tolle speaks about our Ego and Mind – and how they will continue to trick us and to weigh us down and keep us powerless.  I kept telling myself, I have learned the lesson…then as soon as sadness and disappointment struck,  I would be even more disappointed in myself for letting things get me down.  I ended up angry and frustrated with myself…to the point where a great friend had to save me last night, and remind me that these are just things I will go through as I train myself, as I use this new muscle, and that there will be pain along the way.  In my head, a flash….I thought, like layers of an onion… and I remembered this poor old, unexercised blog.  A lost pursuit, gathering dust – if dust can be gathered on the net. 

So I have decided to return to my blog, as a way to give thanks…as a way to share knowledge and understanding, and as a way to grow a perfect onion.  And the best way to start each day, is to be grateful for what we already have.  I used to start each day thinking about what I NEEDED to do.  And as this great friend told me just last night:  NEED=BREATH.  I need breath.  I need food and water.  I do not need to DO anything, but I can choose to do it. And I can choose to do it in a spirit of gratitude.  Today I started my gratitude list:  my husband, my friends and mentors, my family, my ability, and my desire.  I felt great – I thought the lesson was learned. 

But, the universe, once again, is laughing at me and how little I am compared to God’s grand design.  Today I drove to the Tri Cities – about an hour away – to help watch by the bedside of a friend who has been struck with Guiilian Barre syndrome.  She a young 30, beautiful, strong, vibrant, and is now paralyzed from the neck down.  She has been put on a ventilator, so she can think and is 100% congnizant, but cannot speak.  She has been stuck in a bed for over a week, unable to move her limbs.  And here I was, whining about my life, about my husband’s cut hours at work, about my appointments all canceling on me….It made me take a huge pause.  I am extremely blessed, and even this morning, not even grateful enough for my blessings.  

There is a lesson in life I am learning, I don’t know if I have yet had the end of this lesson, but I do know that today was one of the biggest days of my life.  Tonight, I am grateful that I have the opportunity to serve and help this dear soul, and that I have a loving husband who supports me in all I do, and that I have my health.  I can’t sleep even, I just feel so full of…of everything.  Whoever is out there, thank you for your part in my journey.  Everything happens for a reason – the good things and the bad things.  Without sour, we could not have sweet.  So be grateful for all of the flavors of your life.

“The present moment is the substance with which the future is made. Therefore, the best way to take care of the future is to take care of the present moment. What else can you do?” 
― Thích Nhất Hạnh

 

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” 
― Ralph Waldo Emerson