"If the only prayer you ever said was thank you, that would be
enough," said Master Eckhart - an so true it is. This is a prayer
that has stuck with me since childhood - my aunt would remind me over
and over again that no matter what happens to you in life - be
thankful for what you have, because there are those around you that
are in worse situations than you. As a child, i may not have fully
grasped the meaning in its totality, and maybe on some level just
began saying this prayer on automatic pilot because it stuck with me,
however as i grew and went into adulthood and all the different
changes/stages that we go through, saying thankyou was very helpful.
It has helped me shift perspective, and has helped me look at things
beyond what meets the eye. It has pushed me to not get stuck in my
emotions which can be very draining, but more so it has allowed me to
live life - we often just let the whole day pass before us without
doing anything - and sometimes doing nothing is necessary, but i am
talking about it within a different context. Living is not simply
just waiting for life to happen - it is actually making life happen -
and by saying thank you - we allow things to happen. We are humbly
acknowledging that a greater power has provided us with so much and
more - we are humbly acknowledging that yes, our life could be a mess
right now, but there are other things that are also worth living for,
we are humbly acknowledging that we may have made a mistake, but that
there is also a second chance to do it over again and perhaps even a
third. So there can never be enough of thank yous - and i think as a
society, we don't say it enough.
Everytime, i am at a restaurant and someone serves me my meal, i say
thank you - because it reminds me of how grateful i am that i can get
to out and have a meal, while there are so many out there that can't.
Everytime, i pay for a service, i say thank you -because even though
they are being paid to do it, there is still work involved on their
part and it take effort. Thank you is an essential part of our
vocabulary and saying thank you also reminds us of those invisible
helpers that are there along the way (or even visible helpers) that
have helped make our life alot easier.
I do this practice with my son, and for those of you that have
children, i ask you to do that with them - because it teaches them to
look beyond what meets the eye- it helps them face the ups and downs
of life with courage, with optimism and with a humility that "yes,
this too shall pass." But more than anything, it helps us get unstuck
- when we are stuck in our emotions, in our ways, in our thoughts
-there is no room for change. Change can only happen if we allow our
perspective to change and allow our view to shift and change - and
then we will see daily things happening in our lives that we are so
grateful for.
I was struggling with an issue the last week or so - which i know has
no resolution - but i revisit it every time and everytime my mind
gets stuck and my emotions get stuck - and this time i got tired of
feeling and thinking that way - so i decided to shift perspective - if
i shift my persepctive, then maybe my stuckness may get entangled and
i will be free - and as difficult as it is to do it - i had to push
myself to do so - Saying Thank you and listing out what I am thankful
for -making a list for myself of specific things that i am thankful
for helped me shift perspective. THe message I got which I would
want to leave you with is " What happens to you does not matter - what
you become through the process is what matters and that is the meaning
of life." It is understanding that all that is happening will happen,
but it is how i respond to it, how i become in the process that will
change my attitude - and i will say that sometimes one may feel like
you are walking through a fire when faced with struggles - but how you
come out of it, is so important in the long run - so hold on tight.
Journal Prompt:
1. Do a five minute sprint beginning the sentence: "The worse thing
that could happen to me is
2. At the end of the day, make a list of all the things that happened
during that day and be specific - that you are thankful for - do it
for 2 days, then extend it to 3 days, and then make it 5 days, and
then make it a week. See the change/shift if any and note it.
3. Say Thank you GOD! Say THANK YOU! - people often feel unloved and
taken for granted - extend your thankfulness to those whom have helped
you along the way on your path - don't forget them.
Happy Journaling!
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