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Monthly Archives: November 2012
I asked the Guides of the Akashic Records: What’s the big deal about Gratitude, anyway? This is what they told me:
Thoughts on Gratitude – Part 1
Gratitude will be more and more important in the coming time as a means of transformation and even survival. Yes, that may surprise you.
For gratitude and her cousin appreciation and her older sister Love – all of these are the hallmarks of a higher consciousness. Not only the evidence but also the pathway to higher consciousness.
Climbing up the “mountain” of spiritual attainment by way of the path of gratitude -doesn’t that seem like the easy way up? Does gratitude seem rugged and difficult or soft and friendly?
In fact, the pathway of gratitude is so essential today because it is the exact opposite of fear, and this is the polarity that needs to be reversed.
Where fear rejects, gratitude accepts. Where fear shudders and grimaces, gratitude smiles and caresses. Where fear runs the other way or stands frozen in place, gratitude warmly approaches and embraces. Where fear draws a knife, gratitude throws a kiss.
Which would you rather have as a companion – fear or gratitude?
And yet, which do most people live with as their daily companion? Which do they welcome in the door as a trusted advisor? All too often it is fear.
Often gratitude seems naive to the cynical, like a luxury to the hard-pressed, and even foolish or deluded to those who struggle with outer circumstance.
And yet, if they only knew that gratitude IS the way out of their troubles, that gratitude IS the promised land, and that gratitude will in fact change their fortunes… how would their attitude change?
It is paradoxical, but the action of gratitude, if entered into whole-heartedly, will change your outer reality.
The trick is in trusting gratitude first, in having the courage to act on faith and believing in gratitude no matter what is being shown outwardly in one’s life.
In fact, being grateful for EVERYTHING is the key!
(more to come in Part 2)
It is Thanksgiving season in the United States, and at this time, even our mass media have the very unusual custom of speaking of gratitude.
One might see news announcers talking about what they’re grateful for – or exploring the tradition of giving thanks in the U.S.(perhaps more problematic for the Native Americans who shared that famous first meal.)
Many wise words have been written on the topic of gratitude – and many Hallmark cards as well. But in November it seems we get gratitude-breaks in the media as short intervals between the “real,” “serious” business of inciting fear or distracting with trivia.
This is striking and poignant, as gratitude and fear are direct opposities.
Actually, it is always a good time to think about the deeper meaning and value of gratitude. Many spiritual teachers praise it as a practice – keeping a gratitude journal, telling people that we care.
We are told that gratitude raises our vibrational frequency – but only if we really mean it and feel it. (Just “thinking” our gratitude list and checking items off is not enough.)
Actually, gratitude is a “pivot” state. Kind of like breathing.
Breathing is something that happens automatically, but which we can also do on purpose, to our benefit. It’s like a lever we can control to change our state.
Gratitude is in the upper echelons of “higher states” we aspire to, but is one that is fairly easy to “do on purpose” as well. For instance, it is usually easier to think of something we appreciate – even grudgingly if we’re down in the dumps – than it is to feel full-blown love.
So gratitude is extremely useful as a state-changer. And it’s kind of become the new work-horse of spiritual technologies for that reason.
I’ve been reading and hearing a lot this week about the profound benefits of gratitude not only as a state-changer, but as a life-changer.
So I decided to consult the guides of the Akashic Records to see what they would have to say on the topic. The implications of what they said are pretty radical.
It’s one thing to be grateful for specific events in our life – having enough to eat, for instance. But what if we’re called to be grateful for EVERYTHING in our life? What if gratitude is the correct response to every event, if only we were looking at life through the right lens?
Wherever you are (in the US or not), I hope you take some time to appreciate the amazing beauty and power of your life, and of this time we’re living in, and the unprecedented opportunities you have right now to grow, to flower, and to contribute to this world.
I am very grateful to you for your willingness to step up and give your gifts.
There is always so much more to be grateful for than we can ever possibly realize!
We look into the hearts of you reading this message and see that there is fear and concern on the topic of purpose. There is fear of failing, of getting it wrong, of missing the mark. There is fear of disappointment and dissatisfaction. There is even resentment that you may have to change your life, that you will be told that your current life is not adequate in some way, that you will be judged.
And we also see that there is great longing, great desire and intensity, and great love. And all of this love, longing, desire, and intensity revolve around the reason you are here. It is the calling card of your soul, if you will, announcing itself to you. letting you not feel content until you are reaching for the goal that your soul is here to attain.
Goal is perhaps the wrong word, for it is not an end-point you seek, but a state of continual flow and growth in the direction of being more fully who you are. That is all we mean by purpose. Being yourself in your entirety. What is the pathway toward more full realization of yourself? It is unique for each one. And it is never just for yourself alone.
You have encoded within your hearts, each of you, an image and a vibration which is the signal for what you seek. That image, that sound, that energy – it can take many forms – are how you recognize what is familiar to your soul, what is calling to you. When you meet that, something in you is awakened. Notice when this happens, and pay attention.
Notice when you feel called, when you feel the stirring of a great desire, a great love, a great longing. These are signals from your soul that you are getting closer. Trust and cherish these feelings that speak the language of the heart. It is through your heart that you hear the subtle communications of your soul nudging you in the direction of greater joy.
This is what we call your purpose – when you are living more fully in all the areas of your soul’s potential. Usually in life your soul remains a closed bud, of unfulfilled potential. When the bud finally opens a beautiful flower emerges. And then even the flower gives way to the fullness of the fruit. Allow this process, until you become the fruiting of your soul.