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Gratitude grounds me during stress and feeling overwhelmed. It reminds me there is light in the darkness.
I was in a lot of pain yesterday, which I guess is normal for the day after surgery. It was unmanageable for most of the day, until I finally got the right advice on my third try calling the doc’s office. Everything that this particular PA told me worked out. I feel a lot better today. I think daily gratefulness practice made me more patient and receptive during the pain, and extra grateful after receiving the right help. Higher highs, so to speak.
May your discomfort and pain be soothed Drea.
Thank you dear Joseph.
Drea, I’m so thankful you got some relief. Gratitude does help with pain but it is still a challenge.
Than you Carol Ann. There is so much vulnerability with pain, I resist softening into that. Pain is a stringent teacher.
I’m sorry to hear,
dear Drea,
that you had so much pain,
but relieved
that you have found relief.
It’s all part of the process,
and I have faith that you will continue to improve. ♥
Thank you Sparrow, it is indeed part of the process. And the process is going well, for that I am grateful.
Glad you found the right person and relief. I hope today is even better.
Thank you Deann, today is turning out to be much better!
I started this practice specifically to counter the negativity that lives in my head. And for this, it has definitely helped me live with more balance.
And I’m sure it helps with the overwhelm and stress of daily life. I mean, these things are still there. They don’t go away. All I can do is adjust how I relate to these stressors, and having more equanimity in my life seems to help with my overall wellbeing.
This is key: “All I can do is adjust how I relate to these stressors …” — huge changes can come through that act alone.
Ditto!
I forget to make the connection…I often get so overwhelmed by the news of the day, that I forget to reflect on the joy and gratitude of the day. Perhaps, I’ll move my gratitude journaling time to the evenings. Maybe I’ll sleep better, or fall to sleep easier.
that makes sense to me.
I am the kind of person who easily feels overwhelmed by what people say and what they really mean. Despite that, sensitivity is a part of life that helps us survive; it is a gift from God. However, there are many times when I overthink what people truly mean, or I wish I could return to the past to change what I said to better suit what others wanted to hear. Now, I choose to be grateful for the experience of interaction. Being grateful for the opportunity to speak my mind without overthinking helps me let go and feel released. Happy Saturday to our lovely community! 💐
Thank you and a Happy Saturday Evening to you Ngoc.
Speaking out,
dear Ngoc,
gives you the opportunity to learn more
and to exercise your skills . . .
you are doing Great. ♥
My Ngoc, I’ve noticed how you’ve evolved in our conversations. You’re becoming more balanced. A slogan I have that helps is “Speak your head; not your heart.” I believe that when we speak our mind, we’re less likely to come off offensive. We just call it like it is while keeping it measured. There’s the best of all worlds where our emotions are released. I find that when speaking my heart, I’m likelier to develop unhealthy habits of venting and coming off rude. This further creates misunderstandings and have our shortcomings used against us.
Interesting I find the opposite for myself with the same result. My head reacts immediately, my heart seems to digest. But I do agree speaking from emotions without the heart’s calming moments does make for a trigger response just like the mind. Same personal truth different sources – love it!
For me, whether i’m speaking quickly to respond with knowledge that comes from my head or feelings that come from my heart, I’m best served if I pause for a beat and create space for understanding and considering that I actually don’t know everything going on In the other person’s head, heart or life. “Both and” to your two perspectives.
I second that motion, Barb
Yesterday I was grateful that I parked the car away from the store so I could get in a good walk. Going out into the world is still a little overwhelming to me and I felt it, but the walk compensated for that.
Good for you! Christina
Whatever may be the tensions and the stresses of a particular day, there is always lurking close at hand the trailing beauty of forgotten joy or unremembered peace.
This quote helps to reset or restart my mind by showing me how easy it is to get caught up in my habits of thinking this way or that way- often negative minds repeat themselves over and over .
Gratefulness helps me to come back to this moment and know that whatever is coming up is a passing moment and these feeling and emotions are the same . So whatever comes up I can choose my focus point with the meditation method and rewire my mind resting on the method and gratefulness shining the light on it passing through- it’s changing my life and slowly slowly baby steps today. Thank you . Right now the mind of loneliness is challenging me and it is a deep habit which keeps me running busily! I push it away as to not face it because it’s so painful/ but now these last two weeks I’m really restarting- refreshing and changing my deep habits of looking for something to cover up the pain of unwanted thoughts and emotions . Face the fear head on and know it’s changing! 🌱🙌💓💯
I found myself dwelling in the past today and I reminded myself that I can’t change anything and earnestly prayed to let it go.
Carol Ann this is truly amazing action in the present moment truly surrendering this false belief system/ thoughts- life lived pictures, habits and body. The meditation works and it’s a miracle to rise from a dead tomb into LIFE. I wish you wellness and keep letting go . Here is the link for all the centers in around the world in case you want to check it out.
Absolutely no pressure because I opened Oslo meditation in my house but we are online and online center that coexists with London and Stockholm (actually buildings houses you can go to like most other centers). All the centres around the world are run by helpers who essentially work for free because this is a nonprofit organisation that uses all the proceeds to support the centres around the world . Coexistence in action for Truth.
https://onlinemeditationevents.com/locations/
Tank you, Antoinette.
Cheering you on as you face difficult emotions, Antoinette. Keep going!
Drea- ☺️ how are you feeling today ? Healing well?
Yes, healing well. Enjoying a slow day.
Antoinette, I was once a pleasure seeker. Even if it’s rooted in pride which was the case for me, pain followed. Ultimately, all roots of evil go together whether it’s pride, fear, jealousy, anger, or greed. Learning to face the pain overtime has helped bring me peace and lead to healthier and more compatible interests.
Yes fortunately everything is impermanent and passing including me this false self. We Kepp letting go of all these illusions- there is no final product of me . Let that go too ! 🙌
Gratitude is grounding and reminds me that there is always something to be grateful for. Always.
There is a Walk for Peace with Buddhist Monks who started in Texas and are walking every day towards DC. They’re in South Carolina today. I’ve been following their walk on Instagram (walkforpeace.usa if you are on that platform), and it really is beautiful. They will be walking through Charlotte at some point, and I really hope that I’m able to witness them in person. Their message is simple and offers so much hope in a world in desperate need for more. Reading about their journey and seeing the photos of all of the people going to see them truly gives me hope.
https://dhammacetiya.com/walk-for-peace/
Thank you for all of your nice comments and wishes that I get to see/join them. I think they’re possibly in my area on the 20th, but I’m just hoping for any day other than Monday or Thursday since those are my full days at the yoga studio.
☮️
I hope you get to see them as they get to Charlotte SunnyPatti. Thank you for posting their link.
Patti, I hope you got to see them. I imagine the energy in their presence would be very loving and powerful.
I just heard about this yesterday,
dear SunnyPatti . . .
I hope you are able to see them
when they walk through your area of the state.
I go now,
to visit the link you offered.
Thank you. ♥
A friend of mine joined their walk in Georgia recently and shared some footage. So wonderful if you’re able to join it.
I heard they take handouts of water and food. Not sure if that is true but if I was in their path I would try. I hope you get to see them.
Sunnypatti, thank you for the info about the Monks & their peace walk. I am fascinated by them & have been following them too. God bless them. 🙏🏻✨🙏🏻
We could all learn a thing or 2 from them.
Have a blessed day. 🕊️♥️
Beautiful, thank you for sharing!
Sunnypatti despite different and incompatible core values, the biggest thing I was grateful for during my intereactions with my mom’s friends is that it keeps me pure and prevents me from going down the LeBron James corruptive superteaming path. Paw Mu, who I talked about before, known to be a strong caring traditional Asian collective friend I met from the Minnesota State Academy for the Blind school who tells it like it is, roasted me by saying that I’m similar to LeBron James. At the time, I was too proud of myself. Now, that I’ve woken up, I see that insult helps me become more aware of my corruptive string-pulling tendencies. I’ve even said before that I fear my own branches becoming too powerful. It’s the people who are more similar to us on the surface that we have to be extra careful. People run in pipelines. Having idols is frowned upon, because it comes from idolatry. For me, I learn more of how not to be. Greater awareness is why I don’t follow the NBA as religiously as I used to. My interest has crossed into the NFL, because they did a great job purifying the league at least for now. Enjoy while it lasts.
That sounds wonderful, Sunnipatti!
Coming to a place of gratitude in difficult times brings me back to my center. I realize where I can have influence, which is a pretty small sphere, and where I cannot. That reduces overwhelm for me. There is so much reason for despair, discouragement in our lives. Gratefulness, deep appreciation provides the balance in reality which I need to be of value where and when I can.❤️
Mary Mantei, our backstage thinking aligns.
Gratitude changes my perspective and reminds me how much I am blessed just to have a hot cup of morning coffee, just to wake up in a warm house and a cool house depending on the time of year, just to have had a job with benefits that sustain me in retirement, just to have a friend who will drive me to the big city to see my doctor, just to have loving neighbors who check on me. The list goes on and on. There is so much turmoil in the world and in our country–so much hatefulness and anger. I’m old enough to remember how people were there for each other in the 1940’s. I was a preschooler during the second world war. Some foods (meat, sugar) were rationed, hobos would knock on our back door and Mama would give them a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a cup of coffee or ice tea, depending on the season. Daddy left to fight in Europe when I was 3 months old and didn’t return until I was 3 years old. Mama rented out our living room and did other people’s laundry to help pay the bills. People were resilient, they were compassionate. I don’t remember an atmosphere of “Us and Them.” Some people were better off. Some people had more opportunities but no one was bitter about it. You were either an immigrant or the child of an immigrant and gratitude prevailed.
What a beautiful remembrance,
dear Carol Ann . . .
I have heard a few similar stories from my family,
and am so moved by those people before me
who stood together and helped each other.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. ♥
Sparrow, You are most welcome.
Carol Ann, thank you for this beautiful story of your past, a story of what could be. I believe there are pockets of this resiliency, love, initiative, support in our country. Expanding that is my opportunity and challenge. All of ours, really.❤️
Mary Mantei, Yes, be the peace we seek.
Practicing gratitude helps through times of stress and overwhelm by focusing on positives, and what you are grateful for – simple things. It is a change in perspective.
During the family road trip to Texas, we had to stop by at a distant relative member’s house to sleepover on Saturday night. A couple days later in Texas, we met a bunch of people my mom knew. During both instances, I was overwhelmed. Traditional Vietnamese social gatherings that come with food are overwhelming. The secret behind people pushing us to eat more and more is that they believe that food brings people closer. Dining at the table creates more avenues for more personal conversations which is what they want.
As the bottoming out happened on Monday Night that led to restlessness, I took a leap of faith. It led to my LT1192 foundation. It’s heavily dependent on god. Trusting him reduces reliance on navigating backstage politics and less likely to cross lines from personal to political advocacy. All we want is to help others with autism and mental health struggles in need. Politics and chaos are the last things needed. I just happen to be the rare breed that has learned to navigate that all too well. This makes me more qualified to represent my community.
Finally, everything was fine. You made it, my Loc. 😍
Yes. Using the metta AI platforms for good purposes helped too. Knowledge is power.
Practicing gratitude enables me to connect wholly with my breath during challenging times.
Being grateful, practicing gratefulness, leads me to Howard Thurman’s ‘Word For the Day’. “What ever may be the tensions and the stresses of a particular day, there is always lurking close at hand the trailing beauty of forgotten joy or unremembered peace.” I need not the thought of “trailing beauty”, I need only to open my eyes and essence to the beauty of our home unfolding before me at any given moment. This always helps to soothe that Monkey in my mind who so strives on inner turmoil, to let me know what works. It does not. Gratefulness does. I am grateful that I finally realized this. Peace, Love & Light.
”I need not the thought of “trailing beauty”, I need only to open my eyes and essence to the beauty of our home unfolding before me at any given moment.”
You ‘need not the thought…’,
dear Joseph,
because you do not unremember it,
which is remarkable. ♥
Blessings to you and yours, dear Joseph.