Gratitude 32 … Transcendence
Today I am grateful for Transcendence — namely, all those times in my life when I have been downtrodden by circumstances depressing or unfair, and yet have risen regardless into a life of Purpose and Joy …
Yes, we all encounter confinements and enemies and temptations in abundance throughout the course of our lives, and yet it is we & we alone who turn these difficulties into sources of suffering. I too have faced situations “unfair” and futilely “pushed the river” while attempting to dismiss them — only to make them ever more painful the more I strived to do so …
I have encountered those who would rather see me die than succeed, and I futilely “pushed the river” while attempting to make them understand; to make them “better people” — only to call forth an even darker essence from within them …
And I have been seduced with wealth and power and status, and futilely “pushed the river” while striving to deny their lusciousness — only to make them that much more appealing & thereby that much more addictive …
It was not the nature of these people or the inherent tendency of these happenstances that caused me to suffer, but rather the way in which I dealt with them. I was seeing them as “negatives” and fighting them as opponents, instead of using them as allies on my journey back to my True Self. In effect, I was rejecting their greatest gift: the ability to rise above them with but a chosen shift in perspective …
And yet these days I choose to avoid repeating this mistake. Instead, I choose to know each of these forces as opportunities to transcend the primal and thereby allow my actions to re-harmonize with the innate state of perfect Grace within my Soul. I am still on occasion treated unfairly, and yet today I am thankful for my life anyway.
I have been imprisoned — both in relationships and by my own mind’s convictions, and yet today I am thankful for my innate Freedom — both of being and of thought.
I have been manipulated & attacked by my enemies, and yet today I choose to love them anyway …
I have been tempted by my desires & my fears, and yet today I am thankful for the ability to set them aside (at least for one moment) and extend compassion to all those around me anyway …
Today, I remember that this is a gift not granted as readily to most of the other species in our Universe — and it is a Gift for which I am most grateful.
And so it is that I climb to my proverbial mountaintop, take a deep breath filled with profound reverence, and let loose with a long & loud —
Thank Youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
;