As children, we are taught to say “thank you” when we receive a gift, or a kind word, and that indicates our gratitude. But we are not often taught to deeply feel that gratitude, or even to feel grateful not for the object we receive, but more importantly, for the fact that the person giving us the gift had been loving enough to think of us.
The words themselves, without the feeling, don’t carry much weight; but feeling grateful for the intention a person had to make us feel happy, would allow us to be truly grateful even if the gift was not something that we wanted, or even liked.
When we extend gratitude beyond the material realm of receiving things, it can become a way of calling non-material qualities to manifest for us, and if you think there is not much to be grateful for in your life, think again!
Rather than focusing on what’s missing, focus on what you do have, which probably, many people wish they had. You have a refrigerator full of food, so your next meal is assured. You have electricity to make the refrigerator and your cooker work, so next day’s meals for the family are assured too. A roof over your head, warm clothing, a computer, a smartphone, a comfortable bed… there is no end of things you have that many others only wish for!
You are alive now, in spite of both personal and global challenges, you have survived, and strengthened your resilience and ability to survive more than might appear. And if you so choose, you can expect and desire new and better things to unfold for you in the future, simply by being grateful, in advance, for everything that you wish for.
Maybe for the love of your family and friends, for your boss’ appreciation of you and your contribution (you still have your job, right?) for the validation your co-workers bring to your ideas and suggestions, sparked by your encouragements and support of them.
But if you have just lost your job, you can be grateful for the opportunity now available to find a different one, maybe a more congenial one. Approaching every circumstance in your life as an opportunity, rather than a problem will make your life exciting, ever-new and opening perspectives that you have never suspected existed until you started to be consciously grateful for everything that seemed to be a lack or a limitation and finding its silver lining.
When unpaid bills are stacking up on your desk, and you don’t have enough in your account to pay them all, choose one that is the most urgent now, and pay that one, with the mindset of: “I am so grateful that I have enough to pay this!”, and then, as an on-going project, recognize how abundant you are in the area of lots of letters coming to you; appreciate the abundance that others have who are able to meet their bills.
Recognize you have that same possibility by just knowing that your abundance is coming to you from the same Source it’s coming to them, that the Spirit that gives you life, makes you breathe, makes your heart beat and all your organs work perfectly without your input, will also give you the insights and ideas of what to do to improve any area that seems to be insufficient, including the area of finances, when in consciousness you turn to that Source first, thanking it for all its gifts, and asking it to give you an indication of what you can change, or do to improve a particular area which seems lacking. Then remain vigilant an open and discerning about the insights and opportunities that present themselves, even when it’s something you have not done before, that will require some new learning. That is progress!
