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.
