THANKFULNESS

 

Wow! It is over 50F. That is spectacular for a Morning in March. It supposed to get up to sixty; the average high is in the low thirties. The air is full of energy; it is exciting, yet ominous. The forecast calls for thunderstorms this Evening, possibly violent. By the middle of the week, it will cool down with highs near average and a possibility of snow. That is Minnesota for you.

Speaking of violent weather, there may be some violent economic events on the near horizon. The Fed is going to start raising the overnight interest rate soon. Janet Yellen announced it, I don't think they can back off now. They have been crowing about how healthy the economy is; even if the raise is small, it means the end of free money. This, coupled with, the rescinding of the governments ability to raise the debt ceiling on March 15, could lead to some very interesting [insert disastrous] events. The last time the government was about to run out of money an agreement was made to allow the administration to exceed the debt ceiling. That agreement is expiring and insiders predict congress will not agree to another.

At the present spending rate the government would run out of money sometime this Summer and possible sooner. Things are coming down; wise people could make this a relatively soft landing, stubborn ideologues could create disaster. Let us order our seeds and get our gardens in!

I awoke this Morning with a feeling of thankfulness. It was only a week ago today, that I thought I might be staring, at the end of my life, on this planet. Now, I am in raging good health. [raging- that's not the adjective I want- oh well- it will do]

But, I don't reserve thankfulness, just for the big events. I have found it useful to develop a continuing attitude of thankfulness. It was about 44 years ago, that I first began reading spiritual literature, with more than a casual or intellectual interest. Somewhere, in there, my journey began in earnest. Almost all the teachers, emphasized thankfulness, as a useful practice. I think I saw it as searching for things to thankful for; rather than, being thankful for what is.

A year or so ago, I saw that I was missing something. I began being thankful for 'what is'. When I awake, in the middle of the night, and experience some restlessness, I express thankfulness that I was sleeping so soundly. I feel the comfort of the bed and feel that thankfulness. Reasons to be thankful come into my mind. I soon fall back to sleep. There was a time, and not too long ago, that I would fret, that I would not get back to sleep. I was too hot, or I was too cold. My pillow was all bunched up. Things to be irritated about may parade through my mind.

I discovered that thankfulness is a very powerful idea. It is a mood lifter. It helps change perception. When we feel, the warmth of thankfulness, and look out at the world, we see a different world. It is remarkable how the world looks, when we expect to see something positive, rather than the usual craziness.

The first thing I do every Morning is express thankfulness. I do it as my eyes open. Every one of us has our own words. Some of us have a deity we express our thanks to, some people see a loving universe, others see an All that Is and some see a great energy void. Whatever, we see, It appears to be interactive. When we are thankful, we open the gates to Love. We can feel it. We can soak in it. We can marinate our souls in it.

Love and Peace, Gregg