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Gratitude

The key to perpetual bliss

Why is my life filled with joy, excitement and happiness? It's simple. Gratitude. I am grateful for the present moment. I am grateful for what is. Every morning I wake up and express gratitude. I am grateful for my life, my body, my sight, my heart, my breath, everything. I hear a bird outside my window every morning and I notice the song she sings. I hear the wind blowing outside and see the sun rise. I have clean water to drink and an option of what to put into my body. I am living in abundance. So are you, even if you've forgotten.

It's really easy to get stuck in our minds. It's easy to wish for a better past. It's easy to obsess over hoping for a better future. The problem in all this, is we are missing the experience of right now! By gaining appreciation for right now, we take back the power of our choice. You see, our yeses and nos are truly powerful. We have to be present to what is happening right now to use our yeses and nos powerfully. We must appreciate what we have. We must know ourselves and what we value. We must have the ability to see the value in all experience. We must surrender the illusion of control. This is how we get out of our minds and come back to the gift of the present that lies in our hearts.

Let me show you how powerful you are. I want you to think of a time when you were blissful. Think of what was happening, where you were, how things appeared, whatever else you notice. Feel that feeling. Let that feeling take over your body. Now, think of another time you felt truly happy and fulfilled. Who was there? What was happening? What do those experiences have in common? YOU! Those were experiences in which you were present to what is. The feeling of bliss, fulfillment, and happiness came from within you!

Now that you have this awareness, you can choose to give yourself permission to feel bliss all the time. Give yourself permission to be grateful that you possess that power. You can focus your awareness anywhere you want! You can choose to focus on gratitude. You can choose to focus on being blissful, even when things aren't going how you think they should or how you planned. You can take comfort in knowing, things happen exactly as they should and as soon as you surrender the illusion of control, you gain control! Once you surrender to what is, you control your responses. You control your focus. You can choose to be and feel however you want.

 You do not have to feel a certain way because that's what you were taught.  See, your thoughts and beliefs create your feelings.  Many people believe it's the other way around, but it isn't.  That's why I consider my frustration and anger a gift.  My frustration and anger allow me to get curious about the thoughts and beliefs that are creating that feeling.  I even consider sadness a gift because it's usually a sign I am struggling to accept what is and I am falling out of my state of gratitude.  We have the power to get curious about our emotions in order to challenge our own thoughts and beliefs.  We do not have to judge ourselves and others!  We just don't! 

What we focus our awareness on will grow. If we focus on gratitude, that will grow. Our bliss will grow. Our love will grow. This is because we are interacting with the world from a state of love and appreciation. As soon as you begin to interact with the world from a state of fear and judgment, that is what will grow in your life. This is why I recommend we stop judging and start loving unconditionally in the current moment. Truly, it isn't our responsibility to control others' journey because that is their responsibility. Our only true responsibility is to control our responses to the world. So, if you want to live in a state of perpetual bliss, start expressing gratitude for what you do have and what opportunities are available to you! The possibilities are endless!

You can do anything! Why not treat yourself to an upcoming retreat? Find out more at www.selffullretreats.com