Gratitude Awakening the Heart

                       

Quotes from Simple Abundance: 365 Days to a Balanced and Joyful Life by Sarah Ban Breathnach

Day 8:  Standing Knee-Deep in a River and Dying of Thirst

"The revelation that we have everything we need in life to make us happy but simply lack the conscious awareness to appreciate it can be as refreshing as lemonade on a hot afternoon.  Or it can be as startling as cold water being thrown in our face...Let's choose today to quench our thirst for 'the good life' we think others lead by acknowledging the good that already exists in our own.  We can then offer the universe the gift of our grateful hearts."

Sarah wrote that the first time she heard the song (above) she was driving and suddenly had to pull over because she was crying so hard she couldn't see the road.  She said until that moment she'd been busy but not consciously aware of being sad or depressed.  Have you ever had something like that happen to you?  I have.  I know when my throat gets tight, or I feel tears welling up into my eyes, that something deep inside has been triggered and is trying to get my attention.  I really listen to those moments because they are gifts to me, telling me what my real heart's desire is.

Day 9:  How Happy are You Right Now?

"Perhaps if one really knew when one was happy one would know the things that were necessary for one's life"  --Joanna Field (1900-1998) British psychoanalyst and writer

"In 1926 a young Englishwoman, Marion Milner (writing as Joanna Field) began to feel that she was not living a truly authentic life because she didn't know what made her genuinely happy.  To remedy this, she embarked upon a seven-year experiment by keeping a journal devoted to what specifically triggered the feeling of delight in your daily life.  The journal, A Life of One's Own, was published in 1934.  It was written, she confided, in the spirit of a detective who searches through the mundane in hopes of finding clues for what was missing in her life."

I immediately wrote down three things that trigger the feeling of delight in my daily life:  1) Having quiet time before the sun comes up to read inspiring writings and reflect on them; 2) Discussing my insights with my husband; 3) Getting on the scales and seeing I've either lost a pound or am at least not gaining a pound.  I also love the idea of being a detective in my own life.  There are times I feel stuck or bored.  I should use those times to look for clues for what's missing in my life.  You can find an excerpt from Marion Milner's book at Amazon.com. 

Day 10:  The Underrated Duty

"There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy.  By being happy we sow anonymous benefits upon the world."  --Robert Lewis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish novelist, poet and travel writer

"Happiness is not a possession to be prized.  It is a quality of thought, a state of mind."  --Daphne du Maurier, British author and playwright

"The magic seeds of contentment are planted deep within us.  Happiness that the world cannot take away only flourishes in the secret garden of our souls.  By tending to our inner garden and uprooting the weeds of external expectations, we can nurture our authentic happiness the way we would nurture something that's fragile, beautiful, and alive.  Happiness is a living emotion....Ultimately, genuine happiness can only be realized once we commit to making it a personal priority in our lives."

Today's reading reminded of the Hayley Mills movie, Pollyanna.  Her happiness, aka gladness, really appealed to me as a child.  My family life was difficult, and if there was anything I needed it was to find reasons to be glad.  I love Sarah's statement about tending our inner garden and uprooting the weeds of external expectation.  Yes, indeed, the only way to hang on to happiness is to find it within--in the secret garden of our souls.

Day 11:  What is it You Truly Need?

"In my life's chain of events nothing was accidental.  Everything happened according to an inner need."  --Hannah Szenes (1921-1944) Hungarian poet and spy for Great Britain

"If we are to live happy, creative, and fulfilled lives, it's crucial for us to distinguish between our wants and our needs.....Be courageous.  Ask yourself:  What is it I truly need to make me happy?"

I had never thought of the things that happen to me as fulfilling some inner need I may not even be aware of.  This is what scripture tells us, though.  God works all things for our good and who better than our Creator to know what we need!  Even the difficult things are what I need to shape and mature me.  But it occurs to me, we might be able to avoid some of the difficult lessons if we can distinguish our wants from our needs.  You know the saying, "Be careful for what you wish."  Sometimes what we think we want isn't all that good for us.  Become a detective of your wants vs. your needs and discover what's really important to your happiness.

Day 12:  Until it is Carved in Stone

"It seems to me that old cemeteries whisper that until it is carved in stone, pursuing our heart's desire is our soul's prime directive if we are to recognize what truly makes us happy....On our new path we will become seekers of what I call Everyday Epiphanies:  those fleeting moments when.....we recognize the sacred in our ordinary...none of us can afford to throw away even one 'unimportant' day by not noticing the wonder of it all."

Sarah write about Thorton Wilder's play, "Our Town" in which a young woman dies in childbirth and comes back to view one ordinary day of her life.  That would be a good exercise for us who are still living, don't you think.  As I head into the sunset years of my life this is finally hitting home for me.  In fact, a literal sunset is holding my attention each evening as I carry my dinner tray into the living room to eat at the little table by the window overlooking the magnificent sunset behind the distant mountains that I can only see in the winter months when the leaves are off the trees.  Recognizing the sacred in the ordinary is what I'm realizing, finally, that life is really all about.

Day 13:  Gratitude Awakening the Heart

"Has this ever happened to you?  You're reading a book and suddenly a sentence leaps off the page as if it had been written just for you....Sometimes a stranger casually makes a comment in a checkout line, and it seems as if an angel has whispered in your ear.  We call these moments 'synchronicity,' which was explained by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) as surprising coincidences that have deep meaning or connection with us....One ordinary morning I woke up feeling drained and discouraged....After I sent my daughter off to school, I heard a Voice I knew was not my own, which instructed me to 'Sit down at the dining room table and write down every blessing in your life and give thanks for each one of them.  And none of them can be about money.'....Six hours and several pots of tea later, to my great astonishment, I had 150 overlooked blessings on my list.  And then, my first Everyday Epiphany occurred:  I realized I didn't need a single thing except the awareness of how blessed I was.  This was the first time Gratitude beckoned and invited me to use her transformative power--not to revamp my life but to rejoice in it."

This was how the first Simple Abundance had its beginning.  Her story is really amazing--it was a five-year journey from that day until the book was published with a couple "start-overs" before the final format of a daily journal was written.  As I wrote in my Morning Musings post about Sarah's first book, Simple Abundance was why I started blogging.  Her updated version is already sparking new thoughts in me.  When I read her words about not revamping her life but rather rejoicing in what her life was already I knew she was speaking to me as well.  It's something I am already starting to do, but did not have the words for yet.  Now I can be more focused in how I live my days--rejoicing in the sacredness of the ordinary rather than seeking to change--revamp--my life in hopes it will bring me my heart's desire.  I just need to become more aware of how blessed I already am.

Day 14:  The Gratitude Journal

"Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."  --Melanie Beatty, author

"... before I go to bed....I write down five things that I can be grateful about that day.  Some days my list will be filled with amazing things; most days, though, they're just simple joys....All the other Graces [Simplicity, Order, Harmony, Beauty, and Joy] that transform your life can't blossom and flourish without Gratitude.  If you want to travel this journey with me, the Gratitude Journal is not an option....We're going to work on each Grace for two months at a time, weaving their beautiful threads into the fabric of our daily life....One of my most valuable Simple Abundance lessons is that it's in the smallest details that the flavor of life is savored."

"Gratitude is the heart's memory."  --French Proverb

This is a good practice before bedtime because it may stir up sweet dreams and a restful sleep.  I also like calling the things I am grateful for "blessings" because it reminds me who the Giver of All Good Things is. 

Have any of you gotten Sarah's new edition of Simple Abundance?  Are you already keeping a Gratitude/Blessings Journal?