We're about a quarter the way through, and I'm glad we're on this Gratitude journey together.
I do a lot of reading, piles of books everywhere in my life and I mean everywhere. One of my favourite books is the book “Gratitude A Way of Life” by Louise L. Hay and friends.
This contribution by Dr Wayne W. Dyer is one of my favourites from this book (and adapted from one of his own) and so I thought I would:
o Recommend you buy this book and keep it on your bedside table; and
o Retype “One of Life’s Miracles” for you word for word in Gratitude for your attention and in Gratitude for the fact that he explains (in my humble opinion) Gratitude in a beautiful way. Here goes.
Dr Wayne W. Dyer is one of the most widely read, internationally renowned authors today in the field of self-development. He has written numerous bestselling books, including REAL MAGIC, YOUR ERRONEOUS ZONES, STAYING ON THE PATH, A PROMISE IS A PROMISE, EVERYDAY WISDOM and THE POWER OF INTENTION; and has appeared on more than 5, 000 television and radio programs. This essay is adapted from Wayne’s book YOUR SACRED SELF, published by Harper Collins.
Expressing gratitude for the miracles in your world is one of the best ways to make each moment of your life a special one. As you progress on your path each day, have conversations with God in private and important moments. In these conversations, rather than ask for special favours, affirm your willingness to use all of your inner strength to create solutions. Ask for the inner wisdom to do so, and also give thanks to God for Her help.
Knowing that you are able to access divine guidance is more than a Sunday morning practice. It is a knowing that comes from within that can never be doubted or shaken because these moments translate to how you lead your life.
As you become more aware of the divine presence flowing through you at all times, you will find that you take more time to appreciate the beauty around you. As you contemplate a bird, a flower, a sunset, a mother and her nursing infant, a school bus of children, or an aged man, open your heart to them. Allow the love to circulate from you to them and feel it being returned. The more you practice receiving love from your surroundings, the more energized you will become.
There is energy in everything and everyone. The way that you receive this invisible energy is through the actual appreciation of the beauty and the wonder of our universe.
With practice, you will be able to send out the love that you are receiving through the simple act of beauty appreciation. Try it!
Another positive result of being grateful for your world is your increased capacity to give. When you have gratitude in your heart, you will find a new willingness to give to others so that they too, might experience the joys that you feel. You will find that you will want to contribute to the needs and wants of others without any expectation of acknowledgement.
But it is important to distinguish between giving and sacrificing. A sacrifice is generally for something. The sacrifice is only made to achieve something. When you are sacrificing, you are giving in order to get, and you are in an ego mode that programs you to believe that you are so important and so special that you deserve something for your giving. Ego wants you pumped up and believing that giving indicates your superiority – as if your generosity sets you apart from others who are not as munificent as you.
Or, if you give because you feel that you have to, you are not authentically motivated by your higher self. It is the ego at work here, too, telling you that you are so much better than the recipients and that they should be grateful to you.
However, giving as a means of fostering intolerance and love through your sacred self is different. As you cultivate a sincere sense of giving, stemming from your own gratitude for the gifts that have been given to you, you will experience a notion that giving is receiving and receiving is giving in all its splendor. The experience of mindfulness of others’ needs is one of the most blissful experiences that we can know. Recall how exciting it was giving presents to parents, grandparents and siblings. The gratitude you felt for their happiness equaled, and may have surpassed your own excitement about receiving gifts. Why? Because you were receiving when you gave.
You see, it is your sacred self that enables you to feel gratitude and to give unconditionally. It is your ego that wants a reward. But it is only because that is what ego knows as long as you continue to reward it for keeping you separate from your loving presence. Give your ego the experience of knowing the love and tolerance of your higher self, and you will automatically begin functioning the same way in your outer life. [End]
Parting shot… Write a letter to ego about why you want it to experience knowing the love and tolerance of your higher self. Then enjoy your sacred self in Gratitude!
Always In Gratitude
Mish
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