The Grateful Heart

image credit:alicepopkorn

In the East it is traditional to give something away in charity when your life has been saved. It is customary to make an offering at a temple or give to people in need. In giving away to others you share the blessing that you received.

When I was ten years old, our family’s property was burglarized while we slept peacefully through it all. We lived in a small village and the only public phone was across the street from our home. Someone who happened to be walking in the neighborhood at 2.00am walked three miles to report the burglary at the police station. The police awakened us after they apprehended the thieves. It was a frightening ordeal for me to see the weapons and the tools that were used to break in, accompanied by the vulnerable feeling of being violated.

Soon after that incident, my mother cooked a lavish lunch for the St Vincent de Paul home for the poor. This was no regular soup-kitchen fare. There was 5 spiced chicken, prawn fried rice, beef noodles, and Buddha’s feast vegetables. My mother is a fabulous cook and makes a big production of feeding her guests, a trait I wish I inherited but my older sister got the good teeth and good cook genes. Those people had an amazing feast and were so grateful to my mother. They shared the blessing of my mother’s gratitude for her own life.

I have so much to be grateful for in my life and I am grateful for remembering to be grateful. It is so easy to take for granted the abundance that we have. It is those times when I feel that I don’t have what I want, that I have to make the effort to remember the things that I do have and be grateful. This attitude of gratitude, seeing the glass as half full rather than half empty is the key to the lightness of being. When I focus on what I want with an attitude of scarcity, I tend to have tunnel vision. I feel stressed and closed off. I am not able to seize opportunities that come my way, because I am not looking at the big picture of my life. When I am relaxed and remember all I am grateful for, there seems to be a spaciousness about my perception of life and there is room for allowing Grace to bring the abundance that I am seeking.

The opportunities for practicing gratitude on the spiritual healing journey are endless. Before I eat, I remember to thank those who were involved in getting this food to me. When I move to a new home, I thank my old home for giving me comfort and sanctuary. I am thankful to all my teachers who have taught me everything I know about living well, in all aspects of my life. I am grateful to myself for basking in my soul’s song, who needs American Idol!