22 Days of Transformation, Day 4, March 3rd 2010
It is truly amazing when you stop to consider there is only one You on the planet. There has never been another being exactly like you, nor will there ever be. Maybe that is why we all long for soul friends and like minded others, because sometimes it feels so lonely to be the only one. I’m sure this is one reason why we feel compelled to write or express ourselves creatively in other ways too, because we know we have a unique take on the world, and maybe the world needs this unique expression to be whole, just as much as we need to express ourselves?
We each have a bounty of experience within us, a whole lifetime of memories lives in us, and even when these memories are not so positive, when we are able to look at them from a certain perspective we can see how all our experiences have made us who we are today, and all our memories make up the abundant being we are.
I have found focusing on gratitude to be a very powerful transformational tool, especially when I’m having a challenging day. Just stop for five minutes and reflect on all those things in your life you feel thankful for. Start with your body, wow! what an incredible being the body is, so intricate, so perfectly put together, and think about how all our organs keep working whether we think about them or not – and mostly we don’t think about our loyal heart, lungs or liver, they just keep working away, every moment of every day.
Some Buddhists have a practice of smiling at the organs, thanking them and sending them love. “Hello liver, thank you so much for doing your work of purification, I love you.” “Dear heart, I love your courage and openness and compassion, thank you for being so loyal and dependable.” It’s amazing what a little bit of loving attention will do.
There is so much to be grateful for, after we’re done with being grateful for our own lives, there’s the rich and wonderful abundance of nature to consider and beyond that the dazzling cosmos. How can anyone ever feel bored or impoverished? We are the most privileged beings in the world.
I posted this Rumi poem in the blog recently but I’m repeating it here because it fits with today’s theme.
The Guest House
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.
Rumi.
Photo by Braveheart
Dear Rose,
I am sorry to say that I have not been finding the time to be with you and that part of my tribe (VA) for the calls, but I am reading and enjoying immensely the blog posts you have been leaving here for us all. Many thanks, and you truly have such beauty (and I mean that in a special precious way) that you share with the world. I love your laugh in your voice, a joy and child-like essence that makes me feel like a toddler, and a happy one at that. So thank you and keep going, you are in your Brilliance!!!!
LoveLoveLove…Stevie
I am grateful for the opportunity to learn more about connections on so many levels. For me, the energy of the 9am meditation is ENERGETIC tranquility.. I am able to go about the day’s task on purpose with so much more clarity and ability to stay with it until completion.
Hands: I love hands! they tell such a wonderful story! I especially love the gnarled, split, rough hands of men who work hard with their hands. As we become a nation that does not do manual labor in the same way as the past generations, I think we will loose the beauty of these special hands.
namase, nancyBe
nancybe’s comment/thoughts about a person’s hands is just great, and so true. To me, man’s need to make one’s physical life easier is highly questionable.
Rose….thank you for these blogs, especially today….couldn’t make the call…had to take my car in for repair early…not one of my favorite tasks! And now here’s this ….and your reminder about gratitude….thank you, vehicle for allowing me to move (an extension of my bodyvehicle). The verdict on the car (driver’s window wouldn’t work) was to buy a new door or disconnect the electric connection….I chose the latter since I’ve been dreaming about a new car anyway….hmmm,old windows not working, new door needed…what better signal to move forward in transformation! Thank you, Universe, for annoying events….they point the way to growth!