Audiobook: Your Simple Path By Ian Tucker - Chapter 12

Chapter 12 Gratitude If the only prayer you say in your entire life is thank you,

It will be enough.

As we begin to recognise the life-changing benefits of forgiveness and build it into our everyday lives,

It will lessen the hold that past events have on us and in turn help us let go of emotions such as grief and regret.

It will enable us to feel more present and by not remaining stuck in the past,

We have so much more energy to enjoy today.

But what of the future?

Just as you arrive eager to live in this moment,

Someone reminds you of the total uncertainty of tomorrow.

How can we then stop ourselves finally stepping out of the past,

Only to let our minds wonder to future events where worry,

Anxiety and uncertainty replace regret?

As the pace of life takes hold of us,

We are swept along with the belief that we need more to be happy,

That what we already have isn't enough.

We become dependent on something or someone coming along in the future that will make it all perfect.

It's at this point that we introduce the need to control an outcome or feel helpless because we can't,

Thus opening the door to heartache and damaging thoughts associated with worry,

Apprehension and fear.

What if we allowed ourselves to stop for a moment and acknowledge all the good that we have in our life,

To focus on what we have rather than what we think we need?

What if we simply said thank you?

If someone told you at this point in your life you were to draw a line and have nothing more than you have now,

You would quickly rediscover,

Learn to value and cherish how blessed you already are.

Being grateful refocuses us on the moment.

It eases our concerns about what might have been or indeed what may or may not come along in the future.

It helps us to recognise all that we have now.

Gratitude is a true healing balm for the modern age.

It gently soothes the pain of needing more to be happy,

Or softening the effect of regret for something in the past.

As forgiveness sets you free and delivers you to this moment,

Gratitude takes over and offers a reminder of how fortunate you are right now.

The combination of forgiveness and gratitude are an unbeatable force.

Later in this chapter I will introduce you to a simple approach that will enable you to work through a situation and find peace and inspiration when previously you may have given up all hope.

You need very little in life to be truly happy and at peace.

In fact the real irony is that the more you have,

The more you think you need.

Stuck on the side of the refrigerator,

Your happy and at peace list would only read food,

Water,

Shelter,

Health and loving interaction with other people.

You may feel that even this eludes you.

Food,

Water and shelter are normally in stock,

But the health and loving other people bit isn't always available.

I guess that you can probably imagine what the effect of not worrying about the future would have on your general wellbeing.

You can also be assured that as you shift towards a more simple,

Caring outlook to life,

As you begin to develop a compassionate,

Giving nature,

An inner glow will begin to radiate from you.

The very essence of these qualities is love itself and it will naturally attract other people into your life.

And as you always get back what you give out,

The final item on your refrigerator list is also in place.

The magical thing about giving thanks is that nothing has to change in your life.

The circumstances remain the same.

Just like forgiveness,

Your ability to be grateful every day does not depend on anyone or anything else.

So what stops us?

Why do we seemingly forget all that we have?

Why are loved ones and dear friends taken for granted?

What makes it so difficult for us to count our blessings?

Our need for always wanting more brings with it a dissatisfaction for what we believe we have right now.

This leads us to blame others for our supposed shortfalls and brings a pessimistic outlook.

We begin to complain,

To whinge,

To whine,

To criticise.

And before we know it,

Our self-pity has stifled any chance we have of allowing us to remain positive.

Complaint is the direct opposite of gratitude.

One liberates whilst the other suffocates.

One empowers you to recognise all that you have.

The other is born out of a self-righteous belief that the world isn't meeting your expectations and needs to do better.

A law that runs through this book,

Just as it does throughout your life,

Is the principle of what you give out you get back.

Another approach to this would be that what you focus on expands.

It fills your mind,

Becomes your truth,

And turns into your reality.

Therefore,

If what we put our attention on becomes our story,

Our life,

You can begin to see how damaging complaint and self-pity can be.

Complaining simply brings more into your life for you to complain about.

The great news is that the same law also applies to gratitude.

As you begin to give thanks and show appreciation for all that you have in life,

Even more of the same presents itself to you.

Within no time at all,

And just by changing your approach from scarcity to abundance,

You will quickly develop a more positive and realistic outlook on life.

Let's now look at how we can create this internal shift each day.

I have already mentioned that you have everything you need to be grateful right now.

Therefore,

A perfect place to start is to look at things that we currently take for granted.

Those people or things in your life that have become background eyes,

An inconvenience to you in your quest to find more and thus be happy.

The older model,

The hold your back brigade.

The people closest to us in our life offer us an ideal opportunity to reignite our appreciation for all that we have.

Why is it that even when there is a very good chance that we would give up our own life to keep these people safe,

We still find it easy to criticise and complain,

Rather than remember how blessed we are that they are sharing our life?

The very fact that we spend more time with them means that they come with a workload.

They are demanding of us and take up more of our time,

And in turn our expectation of them also increases.

Real life kicks in and your day to day routine takes over.

The school run,

Shopping,

Cooking,

Cleaning,

The pressures of work,

Family issues,

Finances,

Health.

You will all have your own list,

But you get the picture.

As it rises to the surface,

We get dragged along with it and it becomes our reality.

The problem is it also becomes the people with whom you share it,

And that's what brings the negativity towards them and vice versa.

Gratitude takes you below the surface.

It enables you to look past the monotony and reconnect with the person rather than the to do list.

It moves you out of self pity and reminds you how blessed you are.

You can find a hundred reasons to love someone for every one reason to complain,

And guess what comes back to you?

So as we begin to understand the art of appreciation,

Can we relate it to all things,

However basic?

Or does there need to be a value or importance placed on an item before we can truly give thanks?

My writing space is a small woodshed in South Devon.

It has a log burner and a desk.

It really couldn't be any more basic.

It has no obvious monetary value,

And I could have been put off by the buckets that catch the rainwater from a leaking roof.

Yet I have developed a deep sense of gratitude for this place.

On the surface it's small.

It leaks.

It has no real insulation.

Its approach is down an often ridiculously muddy track.

It has a growing wasp problem,

And a family of ducks sometimes choose to quack away outside the door.

Finally I share it with some of the biggest spiders I've ever seen.

My appreciation takes me below the surface.

The desk is uncluttered and sits against a large window that overlooks a beautiful tranquil meadow.

At the top of the meadow an oak tree offers shade,

And at certain times of the day the light weaves its way through the branches,

Bringing warmth as it bathes the room.

If I arrive early a mist hangs on the stillness and offers a beautiful serene quality.

The silence is occasionally broken by the chorus of birdsong.

And even as I write a squirrel chases along the window sill and across the floor before returning to the oak.

I have developed a wasp exit plan to be proud of,

And I've come to love the quacking and waddling of the ducks,

And even though I say it myself I think it's mutual.

So you see the situation is exactly the same.

It's simply what you choose to focus on.

The bucket or the view.

Gratitude changes your life,

Literally.

It is as if the universe acknowledges that you now recognise all that you have and delivers even more to you.

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

When I set out to write this book I knew that I would need the assistance of both a musician and an artist.

Even though I hadn't begun writing I felt that by incorporating images and spoken words the message would resonate with more people.

I have recently recorded a guided meditation for another project and although I had only ever used it within my workshops it was well received.

I awoke one morning with the idea of offering it to a select number of online music websites.

I sat at my computer,

Searched the internet and subsequently sent about 30 emails.

I only ever received one reply and it was within one hour.

My phone rang and a gentleman introduced himself as Paul.

We began to speak and he mentioned that besides running the website he was also a professional musician who specialised in music to aid meditation and relaxation.

As we were on the phone I began listening to sample tracks from his website.

Within 30 seconds I knew that I had found the perfect piece for Your Simple Path.

As I put down the phone it took a while to sink in.

I knew that I had wanted to find a musician but had no idea how and ideally someone who would have empathy with the book and what I wanted to achieve.

Within an hour I had met someone,

Found the perfect track and he loved the idea of the book.

I felt a tremendous wave of appreciation,

Not just a thank you it was more than that.

I knew that somehow our paths were meant to cross and for that I felt a deep sense of gratitude.

A few days later and I again woke up with a book on my mind.

This time it was a feeling that I should find somewhere quiet,

Somewhere inspirational to make a start,

To bring the idea to life.

During a recent family visit to Cornwall we had found a beautiful beach attached to a small village.

The day had been perfect and my wife and I both agreed we should find a way of spending more time there.

So I decided to look into renting a very simple space there for a few days to be near the ocean and think about the book.

I again found myself at the computer,

This time searching for room or studio space for hire in the same village and close to the beach.

My search took me to someone who had a room in the village.

I began the email to ask if it would be available to rent but then noticed that it was her own studio where she displayed her paintings.

She was an artist whose approach to creating her work was very much in tune with the book's message.

One email and the wonderful phone call was all it took and just like Paul,

Annie B was on board.

I have an absolute belief that my heartfelt gratitude at finding Paul and the music had a big part to play in me searching for a room to hire in a small remote Cornish village.

What could have been a global exhaustive search had introduced two like-minded souls to me within a few days of having the initial idea.

So count your blessings and as you begin to focus on all that you have in life you can expect thoughts of lack and scarcity to disappear.

You will not only become mindful of all that you already have but also attract more into your life.

There is a wonderful irony to developing a grateful outlook on life,

Perfectly summarised by best-selling author Eckhard Tolle.

If you want abundance you need to find that sense of fullness first which is inseparable from the present moment.