Gratitude Diairy

COVID-19 caught all of us with our pants down. And for many - if not most, it is dictating that we go inside to reflect on that which is. It has also, as Barry Malone said: “not been an equalizer. It has been a magnifier of inequality and injustice that permeates every aspect of society allowing some to take refuge behind privileges and money whilst those less fortunate, are left to struggle.”

Much has been written about the anxiety caused by the lockdown and how to overcome the sense of powerlessness and despair. Many suggest that one focusses on what you have right within every moment, rather than fussing over what you don’t have. Expressing gratitude has indeed been shown as having a calming effect on the mind and the emotions.

I was once told by my exco (God and the angels) to “just be”. On inquiry as to the precise meaning, this was the reply: ‘to be, is to do absolutely nothing (but being grateful and visualize) in order to achieve absolutely everything’’. 

But here’s the thing. Is a simple emotionless expression of gratitude enough?

Visualization is an amazing technique for manifesting that which one desires in life. In fact, the Essenes - authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls and who, 2000BC lived near the Dead Sea at a place called Qumran, was adamant that any visualization will only yield results when one can actually vividly smell, taste, feel, hear the elements within your visualization or prayer.

So visualization should then in fact be a total immersive emotional/physical experience even though one would be quite still and stationary. Does this make sense?

It does. One has to experience – take ownership of the content of your visualization as if it already is – right here right now. The emotion which accompanies successful achievement is indeed a truly deep and authentic experience as I am sure you can relate to. You see, to think about something is one thing. To actually passionately experience it in your mind, is activating that thought or desire…

So this morning as I woke and expressed gratitude for a new day – I was suddenly struck by the sound of that expression in my mind. It was so - casual and meaningless – I was stunned!

If it sounded meaningless, it is meaningless. I dug into the subconscious to extract reminders of experiences that rendered authentic emotions of gratitude (and there are many), and then I again expressed gratitude. This time it felt different – my soul responded.

Now I am not trying to simplify the challenges relating to stress and anxiety. To practice gratitude is not always that easy. Tell someone who hasn’t eaten for days, to be grateful – or a parent who has been starving themselves in order to feed their children – it is not that easy and I don’t have all the answers either.

Point is if one expresses gratitude and your soul do not respond to this expression, if you don’t feel that gratitude – if you don’t feel the intention and attention – you have not gone inside - and then, in my opinion, the expression is pretty much meaningless.

Lockdown dictates a redirection of our focus. If we make gratitude part and parcel of that new focus and we share within our communities, the gifts may well surprise us all.

 

 

When life presents life...

Why this? Why that? Why now? Why me…?

Well, why not?

Someone asked, ‘How are things on your side?” I replied: all is well.
And I am thinking, life is actually pretty good. It is presenting me with opportunities, challenges, disappointment, laughter, death, birth, humor, joy, sadness – in fact, some moments within this presentation are quite demanding. I need to slow down – right down – right now, but life wouldn't let me! Or so I think!

In response however, I am not presenting life with a why - not anymore. Why the hell should I? I trust God, the Great Spirit, the Universe, LIFE and accept that there is a good reason for everything that is being presented, down to the smallest detail. I was not always this trusting though, but then, that is a story for another time. And just by the way, I do not believe in coincidence.

How are you responding to what life is presenting you with? Are you frustrated? Are you grateful? Are you shooting yourself in the foot by denying your own divinity, your own worth and the tremendous value you bring to this world, your family, your work environment? Because if you do, you need to stop right here, right now!

Of course, it is not always easy to embrace that which life presents. It can be pretty brutal at times. But here's the thing. Resistance to what is creates even more difficulty. However, when one embraces what is, irrespective, it becomes easier to manage and learn what needs to be learned. Consider the difficulties as being part of your advance course in those areas and just go and cum it!

I once observed a large rock in a river. It divided a single stream into two streams. The image has stayed with me till this day. This rock did not move or change from one moment to the next. In fact, it did absolutely nothing. It was just there.

But by just being there, it divided the stream – adding speed to the flow of the water – directing part of it in different direction, which brought a whole host of benefits to many. Growing on the side of this rock was a tiny fern. It was battered by the flow of the water but it was beautiful and green and definitely not going anywhere.

You see, often it is not about what you do or what you own. It is about being you. Often and at any one time, your presence at a particular time and place is all that is required for miracles to happen, for things to change and improve for everyone, including you. So yes, you really can be an agent for change by just being you, by consciously sharing and being present.

So, be mindful of the fact that you are a piece of an extremely large puzzle. It is called life and without you, this puzzle is inconclusive. Life cannot present life without you being part of it!

So again, I repeat the invite for you to share your story with the readers via this platform.

Thank you to those readers who have expressed appreciation for the previous Single Story pieces. The intention though, is for you to be the author of this column – not me. So let’s hear it. Email me at matthys@lowvelder.co.za

Unlimited ...

I have a question? Do you know, from a universal perspective, what “unlimited’ means?

I will answer this question and neither will I elaborate – not as yet.

It means you decide – everything! Yeah, I know that some would question this and it is completely okay because it is not my purpose or intent to convince you of anything other than to create an awareness of the trillion and one options that we have from which we can decide everything. Life is an experiment …. ?

It would be sincerely interesting to hear your observations. The purpose thereof again is not to engage in debate but rather to stimulate introspection and inner silence. One question that will create a focus for this inner investigation is this. What is right and what is wrong? How does one define this concept so as to offer equilibrium in the minds of all in order to establish a universal truth that will be accepted and applied by all as the true answer to this age old question?

Once one has established the answer, will everyone apply it in the same manner? Let me share one perspective.

There is no right or wrong – nothing is intrinsically right or wrong – it just is!

There are just many options from which I – you - can choose in order to create the result that we think would be appropriate under the circumstance and at a particular moment. Sometimes the result of this choice is not what we were hoping for and this might be contributed to the fact that we may not have had a really clear idea or picture in our minds of what we wanted.

You see, it is really important to have absolute clarity. It is also really important to accept the result of your initial choice as being the correct one – even if only for the sake that it showed you what it is that you did not want, although you thought that is what you wanted!

Thus, once you have now realized what you did not want, you can fine tune your desire to be more appropriate and specific to your requirements and then choose your next option.

Was the first one incorrect? No – not if you learned from it! So now – would you, at least, consider the possibility that life may be an experiment of choices in order to know and become more of what and who we really are?

Good – embrace every single choice with gratitude because it was the “right” choice to make!

Be good.