Sunday, August 29, 2010

Gratitude Feather

What is a Gratitude Feather?  This one, in fact.  And for you, who ever that may be, the next feather you find or stumble upon will be your Gratitude Feather.  When you find it (and you will) keep it with you so you will be reminded of this ancient wisdom I am about to share with you...

Regardless of what is going on in your life, find a way to be grateful for it and everything you experience.  Be especially grateful for the good but also be grateful for the bad. For without the bad, you would never know what good truly is.

My Nana was famous for saying "Praise the Lord."  In good times and in bad times, no matter what was going on, "Praise the Lord!"

Wayne Dyer in The Power of Intention talks about finding a penny, picking it up and thanking God for this small token of abundance.

"Develop an attitude of gratitude for all that manifests into your life.  Be thankful and filled with awe and appreciation, even if what you desire hasn't arrived yet.  Even the darkest days of your life are to be looked on with gratitude.  Everything coming from Source is on purpose.  Be thankful while empowering your reconnection to that from which you and everything else originated."

That right there is some powerful wisdom.

If you've read Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsh, the first part of that book is spent on understanding who we, as humans, really are.  It challenges us to look at ourselves as first a spiritual being then a human being.  Wayne Dyer also touches on that saying we are spiritual beings having a human experience.  In Conversations with God, it goes a step further saying that much of what we go through in life, the human experience, is in part mostly our choice.  That we are infinite beings experiencing what life is like in this 3D world in order to better appreciate and fully grasp and appreciate the wonder and beauty of the spiritual plane that we originated from and will eventually return to.

Eastern Philosophy like the Tao will teach us about Yin and Yang.  Positive cannot exist without negative.  It is your decision to appreciate everything that comes your way and relish in your time spent here.  It is happening for a greater purpose and all of life is a lesson, an experience and part of your path.  Your journey is not only of your design but it is something you co-create.  When things don't seem to go your way, this is your opportunity to pause and regroup.  Where and how have you fallen off course and is this negative experience a reminder from the Universe to get back on course?

We will examine true and intense suffering in another blog, but for now let's look at the day to day events in our "ordinary" lives and make sure to recognize as Dan Millman puts it, "there are no ordinary moments" and let us be grateful for everything that moves through our lives.

Keep in mind, the next feather you stumble upon is your unique Gratitude Feather.  When you find it, pick it up, thank the Universe for it and put it somewhere you will see it often as a reminder to "Praise the Lord" through the good and bad.

3 comments:

Vernon Bradley said...

Wow, my son teaching me so much wisdom. He is my gratitude feather for the moment, and I will carry him with me in my heart. And I will continue to wait for another feathery gratitude feather to also show up.

How lucky can I be to have this wonder filled man in my life? I cannot really call him "my" son because he belongs to all of you and to many of you in particular, and I am very happy that he is yours as well.

Namastey, David

EditorCandy said...

I was praying at 3:30 a.m. today and experienced this very thing. I am not particularly fond of our senior pastor, he has been at our church a little over a year. I have been especially unhappy with him the past 3 months or so. I decided to thank God for him this a.m. He is there for a reason. I am not sure yet what that reason is, but it is definitely a time of change in our church. I agree with your Dad David, you are an amazing human being, thank you for sharing your extraordinary moments with us.

Unknown said...

Well, the other day I came out of my house and there was a whole pile of feathers. Obviously, there was some kind of an avian homicide in my front yard and, once again, I have no idea what what the significance was. (I did tell you about the 'last day of school' feather didn't I?)
But on a lighter note, I LOVE Nana's pearl of wisdom. That is my goal all the time. In fact, I like to take it a step further and pray blessings over people-- especially the guy that just cut me off and waved the bird! "God, I pray blessings over him and flourish him in abundance!" It is the epitome of "Turn the other Cheek." When you can get to that point, (and truly mean it, which I have not mastered,) then, I believe you are much more apt to see God's blessings for you, which are there ALL the time, but we don't always see them through our grumbling. And it really does wonders for your attitude! When you can praise the Lord even in your darkest, he will lift you. Praise is a natural, or should I say super-natural attitude adjuster, because it gets your mind off of yourself and on to God, that which we, as humans were created for.
--And thank you, David for sharing your heart. Once again, so thought provoking and insightful.