The spirit of gratitude

I can remember, not too long ago, during one of my classes at Herbs, Love, and Yoga when Alyssa asked each of us “What is gratitude?” There isn’t necessarily a right or wrong answer, but I began to panic. I have so many things that I am grateful for; I am mostly healthy, I am loved, I love deeply, I am appreciated and I show appreciation, my family and those close to me are not all healthy, but they’re doing the best that they are capable of and bless me with all sorts of intangible gifts, allowing me to bless them with mine as well. I am clothed, I have a place to call home and I have abundant resources. I know that I am fortunate even though my life is not “perfect” and for all of these reasons I am grateful, but there is this deeper sense of gratitude that I have come to know. Finding the words ( as much as I love words) to articulate what gratitude was seemed nearly impossible. I stumbled over my response, and all I could verbally come up with at the time was that it was a feeling that fills you up. Over the years, and through many hardships I had this idea of gratitude that went something like this: -You SHOULD be grateful for what you have because someone else who doesn’t have what you have WOULD be. This leads to comparison and shame - It’s hard to feel grateful when so many things are WRONG or I am LACKING something that I want, and others have it, or things come easy to them. This creates envy. -If I do something for YOU then you SHOULD show ME gratitude, and YOU doing something for ME implies that I OWE you my gratitude. This feels like both indebtedness as well as entitlement and obligation. -If I have X,Y, and Z then I am grateful, my gratitude then becomes dependent upon my circumstances and what I HAVE or DON’T HAVE. The issue with viewing gratitude with this mindset is that it is dependent upon outside sources. It can be taken from you against your will, creating resentment, anger and a deep sense of lack, or maybe this could even bring up thoughts that you are not deserving of the things that would make one grateful. So, what is gratitude then? GRATITUDE:( noun) the quality of being thankful THANKFUL:(adjective) conscious of benefit received, expressive of thanks, well pleased; glad. But, is it really? When approached within this construct it diminishes the actual power of gratitude, and its ability to be a life changing practice. Key word PRACTICE, which is a verb,meaning it’s an action. Not a noun, which is simply a thing. What if you could approach the concept of gratitude in a way that could transform your life? GRATITUDE:(verb) the act of recognizing and acknowledging, immediately, the moment(s) when your spirit has been breathed into( touched) and therefore has been acknowledged and recognized by the Divine Spirit itself. This recognition combined with acknowledgment in the moment creates a channel through which light, love, and a sense of knowing( pure magic✨) can flow from God and back through you, and all throughout the center of you to extend out to everyone around you, and to the world. Once you begin to acknowledge these occurrences, and the feeling that grows inside of you, your heart will open. What that feels like is a sudden shift, like a blooming, that expands and awe and amazement of the best kind is at the center of it. It’s big, and trust that when you become aware of it, you will know. Not only will you know, you will automatically think to yourself “THANK YOU”. Love and light will become the guiding force that leads you in life, whatever you do and wherever you go. Gratitude in its true form fills you so completely that being thankful everyday becomes as natural as breathing air into your lungs. It makes you want to do good, to make the world better, to help, to be kind, to love and understand people, to be compassionate, to be gentle..you’re not looking for reward or praise, your only motivation is to share the light you were fortunate enough to receive through your notice of it’s existence. ( God, Source, the Divine, the Creator, the Universe; whoever or whatever your higher power is)

Gratitude flows, it is like water. It removes the expectations and entitlement that our egos seek in order to feel secure. It gives us the clarity to listen to our intuitive heart.Yes, there were innumerable times in my life that honest and authentic gratitude was given and received. It wasn’t until I truly came to understand that gratitude is a direct relationship (a pathway, a connection) to the Universe, that I recognized how powerful a medicine it is. I can’t tell you exactly how to tap into this lifeforce because my personal experience is my own, but I can explain to you what it feels like and how I came to recognize its true nature when I began to tap into it. Many people will feel the essence of gratitude within the walls of their churches, many will find it during prayer and meditation. I, personally, did not have the community of a religious group or a religion that was practiced as I was growing up. This left me unsure about who, exactly, I would be thanking or praying to and what it even meant.. if I’m being honest, it made me uncomfortable. It was only in the depths of despair and brokenness, that I found myself being inexplicably drawn to spend more time alone in Nature. Noticing the way the sunlight dappled through the densest canopy of trees, glimmered on her streams. The reflections and shadows created when her canopy was bare. Her welcoming embrace surrounded me with comfort. Her magnificent beauty, her perfect imperfection, her smell, her song, her texture, her taste(who doesn’t nibble from a plant or two while exploring the wilderness?) She changed constantly yet remained ever the same, in that she felt like home. I could pull myself out of my own thoughts and instead pay attention to every detail of her existence. She had the audacity to persevere while the world, my world, was in such a state of distress. She lives and she dies and she lives again, all the while she does so with grace, with ease. Interesting… while nature itself is actually anything but quiet, there is a quiet sense when you are alone in it. You are the disruption, until you spend enough time in it to realize that you are actually not just a part of her, you are her. She was showing me what it means to just BE. She was inviting each one of my senses to be engaged, expanding my perception. Bringing my sense of self down out of my head and into my body. Nature, in her wild, untamed expression of life revealed to me what gratitude, as a practice, truly was. The reciprocal relationship between myself and the Universe that is my driving force in everything that I do. While my practice of walking in gratitude has changed my life profoundly, I do want to say that like anyone else I falter. Walking in gratitude highlights your humanity, and isn’t it beautiful to be here, as a human being with all of your intricacies, attributes and even your shortcomings? And to see and accept them in others? I encourage you to go and find the moments that open your heart to the power of gratitude, not as a thing but as a living, breathing practice. Let your authentic self shine, let that light lead you, find your magic!!
You are LOVE❤️
You are LIGHT💛
You are MAGIC✨

This post was written by Debra Romano, a Herbs Love + Yoga Apprentice.