Sharing Gratitude in Adversity

Although it’s been two weeks since Hurricane Sandy blew ashore, there are still people without electricity, water and other life necessities. Others have lost their homes or summer homes; many more have lost the place where they spent happy weeks as children and adults, now that the boardwalks and beaches have washed away. I usually use November as a time to talk about gratitude, but in the wake of Sandy and her snowy cousin Athena, there are some who are not ready to be grateful.

So what do we do with this? How does one spend Thanksgiving Day when a home has been lost, feelings of resentment towards utility companies and governments abound, and kids are running around wearing other peoples’ cast off, though lovingly donated, clothing? How does one summon gratitude once the relief that your family made it out alive fades and you are faced with a dark, muddy mess?

I have no idea. I am sitting in front of my computer in my warm house, having taken a hot shower, and sipping fresh coffee – my imagination comes to a screeching halt when I go too far into thoughts of having lost everything. I can't even log onto my favorite websites without my cheat sheet of passwords; what would I do without anything I rely on daily?

Here’s my thought: Those of us who are warm and snug, well lit when the short day comes to an end, and thinking about Christmas trees and candles lit for beauty, not utility -- we need to step our gratefulness up a notch.

Gratitude is like prayer; it is a thought sent into the universe and spread over the Earth. Thank You doesn’t only land on the one who roasted the turkey; when the chef is thanked she is uplifted and in turn uplifts those around her. Thank You expands and grows and spreads like an aura and when we let the gratitude migrate from our brains to our hearts, it burgeons into a force that carries out into the world. We need to pinch-hit for those who are unable to internalize gratitude this season. And hope they never need to return that favor!

Please share!

Me and My Tattoo

I have a tattoo on the back of my neck.  I got it when I became certified to teach yoga.  It is a beautiful lotus flower, in the traditional sailor-tattoo blue.  It makes me very happy.

My thousand-petaled lotus represents yoga to me.  Each petal is imbued with compassion, love, and gratitude, and I can visualize sending a petal floating off to people around me.  The lotus helps me remember why I practice yoga instead of step aerobics:  I strengthen my body while I elevate my spirit.  Sounds lofty, I know, but it’s true.  Yoga has many “limbs”, and although I began with the practice of poses (asana), I was soon led to practice compassion and gratitude, to meditate, and to live a life of awareness.  (Note the use of the word practice -- I ain’t perfect, but I am trying!)  My lotus tattoo is always with me to remind me of the life I aspire to lead.  

Not everyone appreciates my tattoo, and I understand that.  My mom likes it, though.  In fact, she came along with me and got a tattoo herself, a nice ankle bracelet that matches the silver bracelet she wears on her wrist.  To answer a popular question, yes it hurt.  But not so badly that I wouldn’t get another one, if the spirit moves me! For now, my thousand-petaled lotus blooms on my neck, reminding me to greet everyone around me with compassion and love -- and to float a petal for myself once in a while, too! 

To Eat or Not to Eat; Is That Really a Question?

Admit it, you’re thinking a lot about food this week.  Turkey, pie, sandwiches, gravy, more pie if you’re fast.  Then cookies and boxed chocolates and Christmas ham and roast beast.  Canapes are next, along with celebratory glasses of champagne!  

Don’t worry, I’m not about to tell you to eat an apple before you head to the Thanksgiving table, or to fill your buffet plate first with salad so there’s not room for much else.  This is my only injunction:  Eat what you want with gratitude.  Gratitude for the chef, for the earth’s bounty, for electricity to run the oven.  Gratitude for the friends around you.  Gratitude for being here in the year 2011.  Pause and let feelings of gratefulness flow all around you like a warm mist.  

Enjoy every bite.  Close your eyes and say thanks.  

Song for Today

Listen to things you cannot hear

Look at things you cannot see

Speak of that for which you have no words

Comprehend what you don’t understand

Love those you haven’t met

Sing songs you haven’t heard

Pray for what you don't know you need

Do the things you cannot imagine

Give compassion to all

Say thank you

Bounty

This morning I was writing a small donation check to a local charity that feeds people.  I’m especially drawn to give to food banks and soup kitchens, probably because I can’t imagine not having enough to eat!  In the envelope were two small cards, and the donor was encouraged to write a few words of blessing to those who would receive the benefit of the donation.  So I took a deep breath and wrote, “Blessings for your continued abundance” -- then I stopped short.  Shoot, did I just wreck this card?  Why did I write “continued” abundance, when I am sending this check for people who have very little?  I should have just wished them abundance, plain and simple. 

I took another deep breath.  I hadn’t made a mistake.  I wish for those people an abundance of continued health, continued joy, an abundance of support from the community, platesful of warm food, and scads of love from wherever in the Universe it might continue to come to them.  A veritable cornucopia of wonderful things, in abundance.  And hey, if there’s some cash in there, too, all the better!

I wish for you continued abundance in your life as well.  Joy, health, love and support.  Wisdom, caring, happiness.  Gratitude, humility, and generosity.  And cash.

My Christmas Prayer

For all that I have been given, and for all I have available within myself to give to others, I am thankful.  For my home and my family and my friends, I am grateful.  For food and drink and celebrations, I am glad. 

The warmth of my furnace and the warmth in my heart will keep my spirits lifted as I travel through this holiday season. I wish for everyone that which will lift their own spirit and open them up to the Light. If the Universe seems as if it is turning against us, may we see events in the light of patience, forgiveness, and hope.  May we learn the lessons and navigate the paths that are being shown to us.  May we be ever grateful.

Gratitude for Me

This past week we officially gave thanks for all that we have, as we celebrated our great country and its bountiful gifts.  Now it’s on to the harried holiday hoe-down!  If you celebrate Hanukkah, watch out because it’s practically on top of us; Christmas follows closely behind.  What gift will you give yourselves this month?

I highly recommend presenting your self with an hour of down time every day.  Sound impossible?  Try doing it out of your house to eliminate distractions.  Yoga is a good idea, of course.  Or visit the library and sit on a comfy chair under a window; you can read or just pretend to read.  Bundle up and take a meditative walk, leaving the dog behind so you don’t have to keep stopping (the kids’ll take him out later!).  Take a drive down a country road with the radio off. Wander through a garden nursery and breathe in the pine scents. Visit a local museum.  Again, you can wander and look, or just sit and relax.  Did I mention yoga?

Give it a go.  You will be surprised how quickly an hour goes by, and how refreshed and energized you will feel afterward.  The bonus realization will be that an hour of replenishing your soul won’t take time away from your busy day – you will seem to gain more time!  Need I say more?

All Blessings, Big and Small

Thanks a million; a hunderd’ll do!  Words of wisdom from Pop-Pop. 

We do have a million things to be thankful for, but let’s deal with a hundred instead – we’ve got turkeys to defrost and pies to bake, after all.  Oh, that’s the first two thanks, right there.  98 to go…..

I’m grateful for my teachers, both those I pay and those who lead extraordinary lives as an example to me.

I am thankful for peppermint tea and car seat warmers.

Namaste to my friends and fellow yogis.

I am grateful that garbage truck let me go ahead of him this morning so I didn’t have to follow him slowly down the street.

I give thanks for flannel pajamas and a husband who doesn’t object.

I shout halleluiah when my trick knee doesn’t play tricks on me.

… and on and on.  My list will include the usual – health, family, home – and the tiny things that bring a moment of pleasure each day.

What’s on your list?