I know sometimes it is difficult to be grateful. I know that sometimes it is difficult to be happy. If you’re reading a book that’s telling you that you should always be happy, put away the book.
You’re a human being, you’re a dimensional creature, you’re multi-dimensional. You are not one-dimensional. It is impossible for you to always be happy. There is no such thing as a one-sided magnet. Being content, now that’s a different story.
I want you all to realize that this universe is balanced. Whether you look at it as a scientific point of view and you say “well, to every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction and everything has to have peaks and valleys”, or you can look at it in the spiritual way where you say “God has balanced the universe, there is good and there is bad and there’s God and there’s the Devil”, whichever way you want to look at it. The truth is, the universe is balanced.
Being content, now that’s a different story. You will always be given the choice to celebrate that thorns have roses or to complain that roses have thorns. You will always be given that choice.
I’m asking you to choose gratitude.
What does that mean? It simply means that you choose to empower your agreement with reality. I’m asking you, if you look at your situation, could you possibly be seeing it in a disempowering manner?
Are you seeing your situation properly? How are you seeing it?
Is it your interpretation of your situation that’s making you miserable?
Remember, energy attracts energy, so if you’re miserable in your situation because you’re not grateful then you’re attracting more negative energy toward you.
So, what are you grateful for?
One of my favorite writers, Byron Katie, suggests you make a list. Start with 100, then 1,000, then 10,000.
You’ll be surprised once you get into it. When you sit and think about it, there are so many things that you can be grateful for in your life. Also, you get a bit of insight
Also, you get a bit of insight to things you may not have been seeing; valuable seeds that you were not recognizing.
In the Bible, the children of Israel were enslaved and they kept asking for a warrior, a soldier to come get them out of slavery, and God sends Moses. But see, Moses didn’t come as a warrior or soldier, Moses came as a baby. Moses came as a baby and nobody recognized that the warrior, the one who would stand up to Pharaoh, was this helpless baby. Nobody knew that this seed was everything they asked for. They didn’t recognize the value of that seed.
Let’s begin to observe and recognize the value of the seeds in our lives.
A grateful mindset can set you free from the prison of disempowerment and the shackles of misery.
Do you see an acorn or an oak tree?
You have to realize that the tree is in the seed.
The hawk, the eagle, is in the egg.
That’s the way it happens.
So many people are into the Law of Attraction these days, so it helps to understand that your seed is that initial intent and it comes to pass when your actions reflect that intent.
You have to recognize the value of the seed.
When you’re grateful for something, like the emails I get from the people who were affected by Hurricane Katrina, they say, “At first, I was miserable because I lost my house. What I hadn’t realized is that if I hadn’t lost my house, I wouldn’t have been forced to go back to school, and now I have a better job. If I hadn’t lost that house, I would have never been forced to get my children out of this neighborhood and now we live in a better neighborhood. It was bad for a while, but only because I wasn’t seeing the situation clearly. I wasn’t open to the possibility that something good could come out of this tragedy.”
My life is not unlike yours. Believe me, I go through the same things you all go through. You go through heartache and stresses and through issues of dealing with people, I go through all of that just like you do. I too have relatives, some are nice and some are not nice. I have friends and acquaintances, some are nice, some are not nice, some use you, some don’t. I experience the same stuff you all do. I’m on the same earth you’re on and we all experience the same things.
What I have realized is that any time I thought I was in a horrible situation, it turned out that what I thought was my worst situation was actually my greatest teacher.
I learned that the greatest messages in my life have come out of the greatest messes
I’m asking you, could you be looking at your situation in a negative and ungrateful manner? What is the message in your situation and are you grateful for that message?
No situation comes labeled. YOU are the labeler. There is a truth I will share with you that has been a pillar in my success. That truth is: Nothing can happen to me… Nothing can happen on this beautiful earth that God hasn’t allowed. I find peace in that truth. I find strength in knowing that everything is in alignment with our perfectly evolving universe. My job is to recognize the value of the seeds.So look at your life and your situation. Be grateful. There is a good message God is whispering in your ear. I know it because this universe is balanced. It cannot be any other way.
So look at your life and your situation. Be grateful. There is a good message God is whispering in your ear. I know it because this universe is balanced. It cannot be any other way.
Steve Maraboli
