On the 4th of July and the power of 'thank you'

Happy Monday! (I know..that’s kind of like that f*ckn stupid commercial that tells us to have a “happy period” Ugh!)

I hope everyone’s 4th was fun- and safe! I saw relatively few fireworks this year due to my location being- well- the middle of nowhere. (Those I did see were let off by us and I think there were about 5 total.)
However, it may just have been the best 4th of July I have ever experienced! It was simply a family and friends cookout at Carla’s, but it felt like I would imagine Woodstock must have...although much more low-key and less a few thousand people. But we had the basic components- love, music, a tent- even nudity- (well, she is 2 and just couldn’t seem to keep her clothes on but anyway...)

The evening ended with the hardier partiers around a dwindling bonfire, passing the last beer and idle conversation and my heart was as full as my belly and head. I know that I have always been abundant- even in the leanest times- because I have always had plenty of people who love me and more than enough of what I need (from the short list at least.) But in those soft moments before the night ended, I felt more overwhelmed by gratitude than I had in a long while.

I was sharing these feelings with Sara the following day and I realized then that there is a necessary evil element in gratitude: fear. In thanking the universe for the many blessings of my day- and life- that night in front of the fire, I had a nagging- though faint- simultaneous fear of losing them.

Maybe that is why it is so easy to take things for granted- to accept things as trite rather than as gifts- Because recognizing them as such means taking responsibility for them and accepting the possibility of not being able to have them tomorrow. But- the way I see it- to truly and fully enjoy life- and ALL its blessings- one must take the time to say thank you. To God, Goddess, The Universe, Buddha, Jesus, your parents, whomever you feel like recognizing as the one whom has helped to fill your life and heart.

It sounds simple, maybe silly, but I know that the more I say those 2 words- the more I close my eyes and embrace the moment and the love I feel in it- the more that seems to blossom into fruition for me. I’m convinced that while I am opening myself up to allow appreciation to pour forth, there happens a concurrent and equal flow of new fuel coming in- new gifts to embrace and use to help others in whatever way possible.

Sure there are wrenches that get thrown in periodically- sometimes a few at a time- and there always will be. They come to remind us of our mortality and the mortality of everything that is given to us. They are the things that test our strength and give us a point of reference when we need to give advice or make a decision for ourselves. But they aren’t- or shouldn’t be- what defines us. “Set your course by the starts, not by the lights of every passing ship.” Let all those blessings define you- family, friends, food to eat, a healthy body to perform all the functions you ask of it, whether it is a fun new car or a blazing fire and the people you love around it, it doesn’t matter. Let them fill you up so you may help to fill another. Then, somewhere in there, the fear gives way to abundance.

xoxo lisa

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” William Arthur Ward