There are a few particularly repugnant officials and ‘strongmen’
that often make appearances on the news . . .
I’ve been trying to pull up my big girl pants
(actually,
I wear more skirts than pants)
and offer prayers for these people,
that they find true joy and blessings in their lives,
good health and happy families.
My inner beliefs
tell me
that these people
are suffering great loss and fear,
hence their rage and greed and need to dominate.
If real blessings were to come to them,
the unhealthy and criminal behavior
would eventually fall away,
because at the bottom of the pile of stinking offal
is a wounded soul that only wants to be loved.
Only they don’t know it . . .
if enough blessings, gratitude for the living soul that hides within,
and unconditional love surrounded them,
they might,
just might
find redemption.
I confess that I am terrible at this effort . . .
there was a time about 20 years ago,
I could almost forgive a world leader,
and do believe I came very, very close to it,
perhaps because he was no longer in a position to hurt others,
but so much harm and suffering is being caused today
that it is harder now than ever.
I do not believe in revenge or retribution,
I don’t believe that payback is a mother-f**ker
and I don’t subscribe to getting back at other,
but,
as I’ve mentioned before,
I do believe in karma,
and am content to turn my tendency to want them to pay for the horrors they have perpetrated on countless innocent people,
over to the Universe. ♥
That’s what I’m working on
these days . . .
big job.
Stated poignantly and succinctly. I must always remember that resentment and contempt are kin to taking poison and expecting the other to die. Thank you Sparrow.
Just one?☺️
Use gratefulness as a basis for prayer and silence, gathering to the heart all that has been given freely. Make time daily to visit this site! ( I am not as disciplined in this as many of you are-I admire your ability to visit daily and I always learn from your thoughts,) when your gaze comes upon your house mates be them human, furry or otherwise remember how grateful you are for there companionship.
For example, when cooking tea or prearing food, to say a grateful little prayer for the ones who offered all the way of producing, harvesting and selling it on the markets of thte world, to honor the given food more regularly, as well as before starting to eat to say thank you for the received gifts. Intensifying my spiritual exercises like meditation and reading related books is an expression of gratefulness to all which is. Expressing my gratitude towards the ones i encounter through kind words and deeds fior heir being here.
I could use some gratefulness when it comes to going to bed at night. I have resisted turning out the light and going to sleep at a time that would be beneficial to me for as long as I can remember. Part of this, I know, is indulging a bad habit, but even as a child, I resisted bedtime. I could look at each thing I do before getting into bed with gratefulness. I could do some self talk throughout the evening reminding myself that I get to (not have to) go to bed at a certain time, and not leave the before bed preparations until the last minute. I need to turn my thinking around about bedtime, and gratefulness, along with some self control, may be the thing that makes the difference. Thank you for the question.
☀️ My intention for today is to look at all parts of my day with gratefulness.
As a caregiver, I can ask myself during caregiving routines, “how can I express with my movements, touch, and posture that I treasure this person and I also treasure my body?” I have actually recently started trying this, and I find that expressing it to myself as a question rather than a command helps me to feel motivated to try it out. And it helps me stay more focused and present during caregiving. So I’d like to keep that up.
This community is already part of my everyday morning routine.
As others have said, I consciously experience gratefulness at various points in my day. I walk outside multiple times most day and make a point of looking up and around to appreciate the natural world. I could add a pause on my front porch to remember to be grateful for my ability to move my body in space and time with ease and enjoyment, which I try not to take for granted.
Thich Nhat Hanh had some wonderful writings about being mindful of everything that went into bringing food to my table. I sometimes think about that and am grateful. I also sometimes eat in a hurry, trying to get in a quick meal before a meeting or other commitment. I can try to remember to take a brief pause to be grateful for all the systems that feed me and bring fresh water to my home for me to drink and to turn into hot coffee, the elixir of life.
I feel like I already stop & pause & give thanks as I go thru my day & it’s routines. I begin my day thanking Source for this beautiful new day & end my day with a thank you as well.
Thanks for the reminder to be grateful as always.
Thank you to All here & the team behind the scenes. Namaste. 🙏🏻
🕊️♥️
As I walk through each Monday evening, moving the compost, general trash and bi-weekly the recycling garbage bins to the alley way, I admit I don’t often think about being grateful for trash. Yet am very grateful for a courteous sanitation team, grateful for opportunity to recycle those unavoidable plastic, glass, and paper items that accrue. Composting, which I used to grumble about, is another way to help Mother Earth and give back to the environment those inedible food scraps. Ah and yes I’m very grateful to live in a time zone and urban community that has developed a trash/waste process. Grateful it’s Tuesday. 🍁☮️
I seem to do this well.
Thank you when I get out of bed and move.
When I do. personal care.
Have a meal with or without company.
Receiving a greeting.
When I go somewhere, arrive safely and return safely.
Just moving thru the day gives me plenty of opportunities to be grateful.
One routine? Gratefulness is infused in everything I do. Seriously. I can’t think of anything that I do, that there’s not some gratitude involved. Even the most irritating chore, I can be grateful that I have the time to do it. Or the money to pay for it. Or the friend to help with it. Or the physical ability to do the task.
Don’t get me wrong, I still feel sorry for myself and think that most people haven’t much easier than me. Oh poor me. But those thoughts are generally overridden by my gratitude practice. Feeling sorry for yourself? It’s an opportunity to practice gratitude.
“The physical ability to do the task” YES!
I used to take for granted that I could do all the physical tasks I wanted-but more recently I have become grateful for the physical ability that allows me to still perform those tasks-even ones that may not be the most enjoyable to do – I give thanks I can still do them!
Practicing karaoke at night helps me be grateful for the common interests my mom and I share. She and I both enjoy singing and Vietnamese poetry. This brings us closer and makes communication easier. Fortunately, we already share the same foundation to begin with.
It sure is. She’s very open-minded and easy to bond with despite different trunks are branches where mine is more modern and Americanized. We certainly share the traditional Asian root.
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There are so many places I could add gratefulness. Brushing my teeth, taking my meds, showering, making coffee, etc.
So true, Christina, all of it!
It all counts,
dear Christina . . .
every bit of it. ♥
I think coming to this site does that, helps remind me to practice being grateful.
There are a few particularly repugnant officials and ‘strongmen’
that often make appearances on the news . . .
I’ve been trying to pull up my big girl pants
(actually,
I wear more skirts than pants)
and offer prayers for these people,
that they find true joy and blessings in their lives,
good health and happy families.
My inner beliefs
tell me
that these people
are suffering great loss and fear,
hence their rage and greed and need to dominate.
If real blessings were to come to them,
the unhealthy and criminal behavior
would eventually fall away,
because at the bottom of the pile of stinking offal
is a wounded soul that only wants to be loved.
Only they don’t know it . . .
if enough blessings, gratitude for the living soul that hides within,
and unconditional love surrounded them,
they might,
just might
find redemption.
I confess that I am terrible at this effort . . .
there was a time about 20 years ago,
I could almost forgive a world leader,
and do believe I came very, very close to it,
perhaps because he was no longer in a position to hurt others,
but so much harm and suffering is being caused today
that it is harder now than ever.
I do not believe in revenge or retribution,
I don’t believe that payback is a mother-f**ker
and I don’t subscribe to getting back at other,
but,
as I’ve mentioned before,
I do believe in karma,
and am content to turn my tendency to want them to pay for the horrors they have perpetrated on countless innocent people,
over to the Universe. ♥
That’s what I’m working on
these days . . .
big job.
Stated poignantly and succinctly. I must always remember that resentment and contempt are kin to taking poison and expecting the other to die. Thank you Sparrow.
” I must always remember that resentment and contempt are kin to taking poison and expecting the other to die.”
Well said,
dear Joseph . . .
we can always count on you
for good analysis. ♥
Sparrow, I think your words hit home with many of us!
I hope so,
dear Carol Ann . . .
my hope is
that we are all paying attention. ♥
Just one?☺️
Use gratefulness as a basis for prayer and silence, gathering to the heart all that has been given freely. Make time daily to visit this site! ( I am not as disciplined in this as many of you are-I admire your ability to visit daily and I always learn from your thoughts,) when your gaze comes upon your house mates be them human, furry or otherwise remember how grateful you are for there companionship.
I do my best to incorporate gratefulness into all my everyday routines. Gratefulness is the ingredient I try to spread every where!
For example, when cooking tea or prearing food, to say a grateful little prayer for the ones who offered all the way of producing, harvesting and selling it on the markets of thte world, to honor the given food more regularly, as well as before starting to eat to say thank you for the received gifts. Intensifying my spiritual exercises like meditation and reading related books is an expression of gratefulness to all which is. Expressing my gratitude towards the ones i encounter through kind words and deeds fior heir being here.
I could use some gratefulness when it comes to going to bed at night. I have resisted turning out the light and going to sleep at a time that would be beneficial to me for as long as I can remember. Part of this, I know, is indulging a bad habit, but even as a child, I resisted bedtime. I could look at each thing I do before getting into bed with gratefulness. I could do some self talk throughout the evening reminding myself that I get to (not have to) go to bed at a certain time, and not leave the before bed preparations until the last minute. I need to turn my thinking around about bedtime, and gratefulness, along with some self control, may be the thing that makes the difference. Thank you for the question.
☀️ My intention for today is to look at all parts of my day with gratefulness.
I am grateful I fall asleep these days and waken rested instead of just passing out and wakening with hang-ziety, dear Mary.
Mary, I have trouble with going to bed at night, too. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I found them helpful.
As a caregiver, I can ask myself during caregiving routines, “how can I express with my movements, touch, and posture that I treasure this person and I also treasure my body?” I have actually recently started trying this, and I find that expressing it to myself as a question rather than a command helps me to feel motivated to try it out. And it helps me stay more focused and present during caregiving. So I’d like to keep that up.
This community is already part of my everyday morning routine.
As others have said, I consciously experience gratefulness at various points in my day. I walk outside multiple times most day and make a point of looking up and around to appreciate the natural world. I could add a pause on my front porch to remember to be grateful for my ability to move my body in space and time with ease and enjoyment, which I try not to take for granted.
Thich Nhat Hanh had some wonderful writings about being mindful of everything that went into bringing food to my table. I sometimes think about that and am grateful. I also sometimes eat in a hurry, trying to get in a quick meal before a meeting or other commitment. I can try to remember to take a brief pause to be grateful for all the systems that feed me and bring fresh water to my home for me to drink and to turn into hot coffee, the elixir of life.
The elixir of life, yes! 🥰☺️
I feel like I already stop & pause & give thanks as I go thru my day & it’s routines. I begin my day thanking Source for this beautiful new day & end my day with a thank you as well.
Thanks for the reminder to be grateful as always.
Thank you to All here & the team behind the scenes. Namaste. 🙏🏻
🕊️♥️
Namaste, PKR.
As I walk through each Monday evening, moving the compost, general trash and bi-weekly the recycling garbage bins to the alley way, I admit I don’t often think about being grateful for trash. Yet am very grateful for a courteous sanitation team, grateful for opportunity to recycle those unavoidable plastic, glass, and paper items that accrue. Composting, which I used to grumble about, is another way to help Mother Earth and give back to the environment those inedible food scraps. Ah and yes I’m very grateful to live in a time zone and urban community that has developed a trash/waste process. Grateful it’s Tuesday. 🍁☮️
The earth is thankful.
Great thoughts, Carla! For me, Friday is trash day, and one Friday a month is recycle day. I will try to keep in mind your ideas!
You’re welcome, Elizabeth. I know I’ve not really considered all the components of trash collecting with gratitude for a long time.
I can express gratefulness to my body when I exercise.
Yes, good idea, Drea!
Ah-yes! I will think of this as I begin my next yoga class🧘♀️ Thanks for the reminder!
I seem to do this well.
Thank you when I get out of bed and move.
When I do. personal care.
Have a meal with or without company.
Receiving a greeting.
When I go somewhere, arrive safely and return safely.
Just moving thru the day gives me plenty of opportunities to be grateful.
One routine? Gratefulness is infused in everything I do. Seriously. I can’t think of anything that I do, that there’s not some gratitude involved. Even the most irritating chore, I can be grateful that I have the time to do it. Or the money to pay for it. Or the friend to help with it. Or the physical ability to do the task.
Don’t get me wrong, I still feel sorry for myself and think that most people haven’t much easier than me. Oh poor me. But those thoughts are generally overridden by my gratitude practice. Feeling sorry for yourself? It’s an opportunity to practice gratitude.
“The physical ability to do the task” YES!
I used to take for granted that I could do all the physical tasks I wanted-but more recently I have become grateful for the physical ability that allows me to still perform those tasks-even ones that may not be the most enjoyable to do – I give thanks I can still do them!
Practicing karaoke at night helps me be grateful for the common interests my mom and I share. She and I both enjoy singing and Vietnamese poetry. This brings us closer and makes communication easier. Fortunately, we already share the same foundation to begin with.
Your Mom sounds like such a fun person!
Mary, she sure is. It’s very helpful for Ngoc and me when we find ourselves trapped in the prison of the mind.
That sounds like a lot of fun, Loc Tran, and a great way to bond with your mom!
It sure is. She’s very open-minded and easy to bond with despite different trunks are branches where mine is more modern and Americanized. We certainly share the traditional Asian root.