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Practicing Gratitude

By Karuna DiLibero

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Published: 26Dec2011
Word count: 822
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I celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday mostly alone for the first time in my life. Life seems to have been so busy and moving so quickly lately, that I felt I needed some down time to reflect on what is transpiring in my life. Taking time for myself to be thankful for all the gifts I have in my life seemed important to me. For me, 2011 has been a challenging year that has truly tested my personal and spiritual strength. Life hasn't turned out the way I thought it would for me but I am learning to appreciate it for what it is, rather than mourn for what it isn't.

Gratitude is the practice that has been quite helpful to me. We can practice gratitude as a form of meditation and reflection. Every day that I wake up, I think of the gifts God has granted me. Before getting out of bed and before my feet touch the earth, I think of Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth and abundance. I imagine myself so full of love that it pours over into all aspects of my life. Even when I am feeling down, I try to redirect my mind to the present which is in itself a gift! To be alive, free and healthy is a wondrous gift in itself.

I have many friends my age who are struggling with their health on a daily basis and I thank my lucky stars that I am blessed with a healthy body and mind. WIthout health, how can one be comfortable in their own skin? If we are not comfortable within ourselves, how can we offer our talents to others in the world and be of service? Dis-ease within oneself becomes an all-consuming focus. We become obsessed with "getting better". We devote most all of our time to becoming well again that it can develop in a narcissistic practice. If we are not carfeul it will consume us fully.

This is one of the reasons I am thankful for the friends I have that I can depend on who walk a similar path through life as I do! Being a single woman of 40 years, I know the importance of this! I can not do it all on my own as I once thought. I have learned to ask for help and support when I need it and have found that it appears from people I wouldn't ordinarily expect it from. Life has surprised me in this way. I have also learned that people really want to help each other and feel needed. We all want to be able to contribute to the world in some positive way and by lending a helping hand to someone in need in most gratifying! I know that when I can help someone without the expectation of something in return I feel nurtured and full! I feel needed and this makes me happy! I have also found unsolicited help from my friends when I didn't even realise that I needed help! This is a gift I am truly blessed with! Having friends who know me sometimes better than I know myself is a miracle!

I am thankful to have a wonderful warm home and to be able to afford organic food! Even though it costs more to live alone and to buy from our local farmers market, I feel the vibration within me raise! It is so powerful to be able to speak to the people who grow the food I eat! I know where they live and where my food comes from. I know the love and passion they have for growing beautiful produce they share with their community. We are all supporting our local economy, we are supporting each other! I feel it's tribal in an urban kind of way! I think people have been really yearning for a sense of community, of togetherness. Separation has only been able to achieve so much and now the tides of life are returning to the shores of small communities.

As we learn to give more, we become more open to receive! It is quite an amazing phenomenon I have learned as of late. The more we can offer each other and give without expectation, the more we receive from the universe. It is the promise of Shri in the Tantric philosophy. The promise that there is always more-abundance. This is what Lakshmi's teachings are all about. The power of abundance and gratitude! It is a cycle of energy that is available to all if we can only learn to let go of the sense that we don't have enough! We have all that we need at all times! We just need to believe it and work with in tune with the speed of TRUST!

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