Gratitude

Gratitude is expressing appreciation toward any of the infinite wonders that bless our lives. And, truly, everything in our lives is a blessing in some way. We can express gratitude toward our selves, others, and God. In essence, when we genuinely express gratitude toward our selves or others we are also thanking God because He is within each of us. When I say, “thank you” to you, I am not only expressing appreciation toward you, I am thanking God for shining his light through you.

Our lives are graced by a continuous stream of God’s blessings. A keen awareness of the present moment will help us identify the infinite blessings that enter our lives. When we identify these blessings, we ought to express gratefulness toward God for bestowing them to our presence. A long, thought out thank you isn’t necessary; just a simple genuine expression of thanks is fine. You will realize that when you express gratitude for the blessings in your life, you are rewarded for your appreciation. You are given more of that which you expressed gratitude toward. Appreciate the beautiful side of life and you will see even more beauty.

Gratitude can be expressed not only toward the circumstances perceived as favorable by our perceptions, but also toward the struggles and discontented moments injected into our lives. Although the unfavorable immediate outcomes of struggles are sometimes difficult to appreciate, we can be grateful for the presence, patience, and persistence that helped us overcome the challenges. God gives us struggles to promote meaningful growth in our lives. For these opportunities we can be thankful, especially because God provides us with all of the tools we need to achieve favorable growth results. We simply must open our hearts, clear our minds, and let Him guide us through the struggle toward peace and love.

With each struggle God grants us, we can thank Him for the tools he gave us to overcome the challenge. If we get sick, we can be grateful for the strength, perseverance, and encouragement that helped us recover our health. If we face a conflict with a friend or relative, we can be grateful for the open-mindedness, understanding, courage, and language that helped both parties agree on a constructive solution. When approached from a loving perspective, conflicts can actually serve as relationship building exercises. As we express gratitude toward a struggle, we learn to see the light, or the meaning, through the difficulty that is often associated with a tribulation.

Every experience in our lives has shaped us into who we are today; we have much to be thankful for.

Forgiveness

The road to love begins with forgiveness. Forgiveness is relieving yourself of all negative energies toward your self, others, and God. It is seeing the luster of God’s light through the internal and external distractions that restrict you from living in the present moment. When you see His light shine through the conditions of any circumstance, good or bad, you know that everything is okay; you know that the conditions were perfectly designed for the greater good of all that is.

Forgiveness is of God. When you forgive, you are with God; you see the world through His eyes. You realize that not all outcomes align with your expectations, but you know that if you choose to dwell on such outcomes, you reject the presence of God. You react to everything with complete acceptance. Whether or not you deem an experience as favorable, you acknowledge what happened and move forward without attachments.

Forgiveness is not conditional; you do not forgive because you expect something in return from the one you are forgiving.

Forgiveness does not occur out of spite; you don’t forgive when you are angered with a situation and simply don’t want to deal with it anymore.

Forgiveness does not occur out of superiority; you do not forgive so that you can be perceived as the better person.

You forgive so you can stop rejecting God with negative attachments and join Him in the everlasting present moment.

Just as with love, you must cultivate forgiveness within your soul before it can be articulated outward. It must reside in your heart before you can offer it to someone else. It is much like a muscle. You cannot share with others physical and mental muscles that you do not have. You must adequately strengthen them with exercise before they can be shared with others. Certainly, you can strengthen your physical and mental muscles by exercising them with other people, but you must strengthen the muscles enough for yourself before you can exercise them with someone else. Similarly, you build your spiritual muscle of forgiveness by identifying a spark of forgiveness within your heart and then exercising that forgiveness toward yourself and others.

As you learn to forgive yourself, the love in your soul grows stronger and you can begin to exercise forgiveness toward others. As the love in your life continues to magnify, you evolve toward a life absent of all negative energies, a life blessed with complete forgiveness.