Gratitude

Life can be hard.  Wretched.  Exhausting.  Sorrowful. 

Life can be easy.  Beautiful.  Energizing.  Joyful. 

The pull of all the things that are difficult, even horrifying, in this world can drag us down into hopelessness and fear.  Into feeling as if nothing we do could possibly matter.  We become weighted. 

I was talking about this with a friend today in reference to a mutual aquaintace (a friend of her's, who I know).  This friend is an amazing person.  An inspiration to other people, but also a person who often wonders if there is any point to trying to make things better, when there are so many negatives to battle against. 

I also went to a Thanksgiving Day yoga class this morning in which the theme was Gratitude and how it has the power to change our perceptions, if not our day-to-day realities. 

Both of these ideas rooted in my mind around the same time and I asked myself..."How do we get here (to letting gratitude change us) from there (feeling adrift in an ocean of the world's heavy burdens)?" 

I think we do it, as in yoga, one breath at a time.  One moment, in which we choose to look up and notice that the world is full of goodness.  That the light touches everyone of us.  That the fear touches everyone of us, too.  We aren't alone and we cannot battle alone. 

I think we do that by using those moments to create an oasis inside of ourselves.  A deep pool we can draw from when overwhelmed.  A pool filled with the knowledge of those who love us and whom we love.  A pool also filled with all the *small* things we have to be grateful for. 

Sometimes that pool feels really shallow.  It's not easy.  I am grateful for my family.  I am even grateful for the hardships I've faced and the lessons I've learned from them.  My good fortune at having enough to eat and live on.   Some days those big things are more than enough.  But, I've found it that changing my perspective requires something often more frequent and tangible than that: 

The warmth of my yoga studio.  Warm wool socks.  A simple, heartfelt "Good Morning."  The fact that I knew both of my maternal grandparents well into adulthood.  The Internet.  The color blue.  Pickles. 

There are things I don't have.  Things I don't do.  Things and people I miss.  Things I wish I could change. 

The counterweight to all of those is Gratitude.  The oasis I create for myself is Gratitude.  Gratitude begets Gratitude, Clarity, Creativity, Abundance and a willingness to share it.   Count your blessings even if you can only do it on one hand.  Even if the only blessing you can think of is that you *have* working hands. 

In Gratitude,

Happy Thanksgiving!