The Light Of Gratitude

Aloha,

I'm Reverend Cindy Paulus and I'd like to talk about gratitude and the importance and magic of gratitude when you're going through tough times.

Of course it's easy to be grateful when everything's going your way and things are really going good,

Getting lucky breaks.

Of course I don't believe in the word lucky.

We get breaks according to what we do and work and our choices.

But there are times and there have been a lot of these times in the last few years where there's been really challenging stuff going on.

And the thing about that is that okay we've all gotten a lot stronger.

We've gotten a little bit wiser.

We've been meditating more.

We've been learning,

Learning,

Learning,

Learning our lessons.

Some of these lessons are really important life lessons,

Right?

So here we come to that point where it's like okay can we put what we know in our heart,

In our life,

In our wisdom to work in our life?

And that's when we really learn because it's in putting to work what we have learned inside and through observation,

Through reading,

Through lessons that we can then put to work to make our life better.

And one of the greatest tools of all is the gift of gratitude.

But here the conundrum comes in.

When we are going through challenging times it's harder to be grateful because what happens is we focus on the problem or problems that are occurring.

And we try to solve the problems.

And when we focus on the problems we get sucked into that energy of the problems and what they create,

The waves of issues that they create.

So what do you do?

This is where the Buddhism and the Buddhist practice of detachment and being objective comes in and having compassion and at the same time not being having to take on the negative energy of the situation you may be trying to solve.

And this is really an important key,

My gosh,

To be able to try to,

And I'm gonna take back that word try,

To be able to be centered in the challenging times when there's all kinds of storms and waves and things happening around you.

But to still hold that center of inner peace and to see what good can come from the situation.

Having meditated all my life since I've been 13 every day I've seen a lot of challenging times and it's been interesting that the times when they're really typically good times,

Things are going our way,

Those aren't necessarily times of growth.

It's nice to be having an ability to hum along and be happy and everything's like going our way.

Zippity-doo-da,

Zippity-day.

But we're seeing now revelations of things that are happening that have been hidden for a long time and we're having to heal those hidden things.

And so we go to our sacred toolbox and we pull out the gift of gratitude.

And with that gift of gratitude we can again turn on that light switch and be plugged into the source of the wonder of life,

Of the beauty of life,

Of the good in life.

So every day when you wake up,

Look up at the stars or if you wake up later look up at the sky and say thank you,

Thank you God for the gift of this day.

Be grateful.

You can write it down or you can just register it and deeply in your brain,

In your heart.

I think it's best in your heart to be grateful in your heart to put that smile in your heart even when the pain of a situation may have brought clouds and storms and darkness into your heart.

If you can put a smile in your heart it can chase those clouds away.

And what makes this even better is when you can be grateful to other people and acknowledge to them that you are grateful to them and then you see a smile on their face and the change in their attitude.

And that attitude of gratitude grows and grows.

It's really important for so many reasons to be grateful.

They know that one of the benefits of being grateful,

They being the scientists,

Is improved health.

There have been a lot of studies about this that have proved that it decreases the risk of heart disease after only two months of doing a gratitude journal.

It changes your perception.

Gratitude changes the way you're looking at your life.

It can make you really go from being depressed to being blessed.

And gratitude is contagious when you are smiling and feeling good,

Literally that energy field around you in your heart.

That gratitude in your heart can be felt around you by others.

They actually registered on some part of their awareness.

It is also really a wonderful way to be able to go to sleep at night.

To review your day even if you think you had a bad day and then see some of the good,

Some of the lessons,

Some of the good stuff that came and remember that and to be grateful for that.

And then they have found that gratitude actually enhances your sleep.

Is that possible?

Yes.

Why?

Because you're not worried.

You're in more of a peaceful state of mind.

You're more centered and therefore when you're feeling good and at peace you can sleep better.

I wrote this poem thinking about how you get through times that may seem challenging.

And this also refers to that detachment.

I wrote,

What would it be like without the good and bad extremes in life and the pain of the lessons that we'll all experience that teach us what we need to find?

And what of those moments when the light of life lifts us up to see the magnificence of this mystery of the journey that we are on?

We are driven by the drama,

The power of the need to experience the Dharma to rise above the mystery.

Would we,

Could we exchange this space and time which will free us from the karma and bring us to that higher state of mind?

So it's with gratitude and a very deep bow I say.

Life is what we make it.

So make the best of it each day.

Ah,

Breathe that in.

Breathe a smile of gratitude into your heart.

Just breathe in that smile with the light of gratitude.

What does that light of gratitude feel like?

Breathe in gratitude.

Release any kind of pressure and stress.

Breathe in light and be grateful for it and breathe out all the rest.

Breathe in that smile.

Hold that smile deep in your heart and breathe it out.

Just release that energy that is causing anything that might cause tension so you can be full and receive the blessings.

Breathe in the blessings and let your head feel the awareness of how that energy lightens up your head area.

See it circling around your entire head area and let it come down and see if there's any tension that may have been created by what you're going through in your throat area and just release it and let it go.

Let it go.

Let it go and breathe out.

Breathe out.

Breathe out and going to your heart deep within your heart of hearts.

Find that place of gratitude and open up that place within.

Allow the light of love to come shining so brightly within.

Opening up,

Opening up,

Opening up all of that light spreading throughout your entire torso,

Your spleen,

Your liver,

Your kidney,

Your emotional centers,

Your pelvis,

Your root chakra,

On down your feet and below.

Until now you have a chance to spread the light of gratitude six feet above you.

Ah and let it come down and through you and six feet below you.

Six feet in front of you,

Six feet behind you,

Six feet to the right of you and the left of you.

You are now bathed in the light of gratitude.

A brilliant white light surrounds you and protects you and you feel good.

Just allow yourself to feel good.

Allowing the light of your soul to come through all of your energy fields and your emotions and your body and your mind and feel enlightened.

Allow everything to go and just breathe in gratitude for this light.

Breathing in,

Holding it and breathing out.

Bathing in that light of gratitude.

Just breathe.

Be the breath.

Be the breath of gratitude.

Breathing in,

Breathing out.

Nothing else to do but feel grateful.

Feel good.

Be in that light of gratitude.

Shine it out to the world.

Starting by shining it out to someone you know who needs some light and let yourself share this wonderful feeling of light you have with someone in need of that healing energy of light.

Feel good.

Feel good.

Feel light.

Release that light and now send light out to your entire community.

Ah,

Send it out to the entire country.

Send it out to the world.

Send it out to those who may be subject to challenges in a country like Ukraine.

Send that light out to any of the places in the world that are in spots of darkness.

Seeing all of the world receiving this light and now imagine the world surrounded with light and the light of gratitude.

The world is bathed in the blessings that come from the light.

The light from the source of all love and allow that light to circle the world and bring peace to any areas that may be in conflict.

Sending that peace out with the wonderful wings of the spirit of the peace in a white dove that circles the planet.

Ah,

And allow that energy to now come back to us 100 fold and feel that expansion that has come now that magnificent light that we have so much to be grateful for.

Take a moment now and count your blessings.

What are you grateful for in this very moment?

And with each thought that you're grateful for say thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Now come back slowly fully into your mind and your body and your heart and your emotions and allow yourself to be aware of how you feel in this moment.

Embrace this energy.

Be this energy.

I thank you from the depth of my heart for allowing yourself to experience the light of gratitude.

God bless you always.