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Our gratitude
deepens when we begin to be thankful for being alive and living the life we
are living. Often when we practice being thankful, we
go through the process of counting our blessings, acknowledging the wonderful
people, things, and places that make up our reality. While it is fine to be
grateful for the good fortune we have accumulated, true thankfulness stems
from a powerful comprehension of the gift of simply being alive regardless of
our circumstances. In this deep state of gratitude, we recognize the purity
of the experience of being, in and of itself, and our thankfulness is part of
our awareness that we are one with this great mystery that is life. It is difficult for most of us to access
this level of consciousness as we are very caught up in the ups and downs of
our individual experiences in the world. But the thing to remember about the
world is, it ebbs and flows, expands and contracts, gives and takes, and is
by its very nature somewhat unreliable. If we only feel gratitude when it
serves our desires, this is not true thankfulness. No one is exempt from the
twists and turns of fate, which may, at any time, take the possessions,
situations, and people we love away from us. Ironically, it is sometimes this
kind of loss that awakens us to a thankfulness that goes deeper than just
being grateful when things go our way. Illness and near-miss accidents also
can serve as wake-up calls to the deeper realization that we are truly lucky
to be alive. We do not have to wait to be shaken to
experience this state of being truly thankful for our lives. Tuning into our
breath and making an effort to be fully present for a set period of time each
day can do wonders for our ability to connect with true gratitude. We also
can awaken ourselves with the intention to be more aware of the unconditional
generosity of the life force that flows through us regardless of our
circumstances. |
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