Day 25 - Gratitude Is A Superpower

Fasting reveals many of life's simple secrets and helps us to reorient our daily attitudes and postures more closely to our natural and purest essence. When you refrain from partaking in life’s daily pleasures such as food, you are exposed to the aspects of life that are often hidden from common consciousness. When you are accustomed to 3 meals a day and suddenly experience a long period of having 0 meals a day, your body, mind and spirit begin to act in miraculous ways which highlight how much we have to be grateful for with each passing day.

Consider your very existence. As far as we know, we didn’t ASK to be born into this world, at this time, on the particular continent or into the specific family we were born into. Every breath that we take in these mortal bodies and every hour we inhabit this earth is an underrated gift from our Creator. We see this more clearly in the eyes of children - the gift of simply being. We see this in nature, as I expressed in an earlier tweet, reflecting on the beauty of homegrown mangos.

The question is what is our response to the abundant blessings of simply being alive? One can easily forget the simple truth of life being a gift due to the daily struggles of the human condition. Whether it’s physical illness, pain or material shortcomings - life’s distractions and our needs can certainly take a toll on us throughout various peaks and valleys of our lives. At the risk of sounding pithy or insensitive to the suffering and pain of the world, I would maintain that Gratitude is the anecdote to life’s most challenging trials. Gratitude is the only posture that allows us to climb out of despair, why cynicism pulls us deeper into a pit of negativity, self-loathing and hopelessness. Yes, the conditions of the world and our society are bleak. Yes, there is pain, suffering and injustice in the world. And YES, even in the face of those unfortunate realities, the truth remains that every breath that we take is an incredible gift that requires us constant gratitude in order to manifest the lives we truly desire.

Reflection:

It’s easy to express gratitude when things are going our way and we have all of the comforts of life. It is more difficult when things are more challenging and we have unfulfilled wants or needs. In either circumstance, does gratitude move us closer to who we are striving to be?

Practice:

Consider what aspects of your life have been under appreciated. Proactively express gratitude in a manner that resonates most with your soul. Perhaps you are even grateful for yourself and your determination in this moment.