Gratitude is a State of Mind

November 19th – Day 19 – Mental Challenge and Journey of Gratitude

I dedicate myself this 19^th day to focus on all that is nourishing, advancing, and promising! PNS

“God and I work together to create my peace, and I begin that process by releasing expectations about the behavior of others.  It is easier to move forward in love and respect when I remember that in Truth we are all spiritual beings having a human experience.  We are all expressions of God.” ~ Daily Word

“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you.” ~ Matthew 7:12

God is my source of unlimited good.  Centered in this awareness, I give thanks for prospering ideas and I open to the goodness of God in full measure. ~ Silent Unity

“Therefore the humble is the root of the noble.” ~ Lao Tsu

To step off the edge is the only way to really know God has got the rope and is not going to let you fall.  Each day since my dear friend’s grandson has been in the hospital battling a brain tumor and side-affects to the treatments, I have prayed for him and his family.  Each day I say The Prayer of Protection using his name:

The Light of God Surrounds Us

The Love of God Enfolds Us

The Power of God Protects Us

The Presence of God Watches Over Us

Wherever We Are, God Is

By James Dillet Freeman

And while praying I have crocheted a lap afghan for my friend.  I hope that as she wraps the afghan across her lap, she will feel God’s love and remember that she and her family are loved.

Life is like a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it. “Act as though I am and I will be.” ~ The Science of Mind

Peter Bolland tells the story of how writing a daily gratitude journal changed his life.  I started my most recent gratitude journal on March 12, 2012, which was the 64^th wedding anniversary of the day my parents were married.  Now three years later I have come to realize what Bolland realized – it’s not the product (of the list) but the process.  Being grateful is a state of mind.  I get that now.

“I didn’t change the world. I changed the way I saw the world.” ~ Peter Bolland

“Practice gratitude daily and your life will change in ways you can hardly imagine.”

~ Rev. Ruth Wallace

Make a Difference

November 16^th – Day 16 – Mental Challenge and Journey of Gratitude

I dedicate myself on this 16^th day to do all that is nourishing, advancing, and promising! PNS

After a weekend filled with blessings, I come back to my daily rituals feeling whole and strong.

Life is a mirror, reflecting to us as conditions the images of our thinking.  Whatever one thinks tends to take form and become a part of the experience.

I used to look at life like a rubber band bracelet, being stretched from one direction to another.  I wanted to eat healthy foods but craved comfort food that was more satisfying.  But recently I have discovered recipes with healthy foods that are delicious.  My mind and my taste buds have joined together to realize I can eat comfort food and stay healthy.  This is because, “ The Spiritual Man is already Perfect, no matter what the appearance may be,” according to The Science of Mind.

It is hard not to get caught up in the drama of those who are unhappy with their life.  They hate their job, for example, and then say it over and over until it affects how they treat other people.  They don’t realize it.  Fortunately, many find ways to move on to another job or make the best of what they have.  A young woman about to start her life as an adult told me that because she knew so many people unhappy with their jobs, her goal was to one day work in a job that made her happy and where she could also help people be happy.  I told her that was a worthy attribute to aspire to and possible if she truly believed she had the power to accomplish it. It saddened me that her circle of friends and family all reflected unhappiness with their career choices.  I was impressed with her desire to not pattern her life in the same way.

 

The Rev. Kelly Isola says it best about how she has chosen to live her life with a focus on gratitude, “To be a creator of beauty by inspiring and awakening individuals into a greater experience of their divinity through wholeness of the human experience.”  I too feel the joy every time I say, “Thank you.”

James Dillet Freeman wrote, “Do you understand how important you are?

Today, I take the time to be fully present; to be fully available for God to be God through me.  Today, I will make a difference in the world by being me.