Day 23 - I Give Thanks For ...

My current gratitude practice is to share at least 10 things for which I am grateful for each day without repetition.

Today, I give thanks for:

1. Discovering this meme about everyday magic being the result of seeing everything through the eyes of love. The spiritual practice I invited our community to consider this week was looking at every person and situation this week through the eyes of love.
2. My podiatrist, Dr. John, who has taken care of my feet for many years.
3. Lake Orion, Michigan which is where I grew up and went to school. I am referring to both the Village of Lake Orion and the larger Orion Township of which the village is a part.
4. Taking a drive out Central Dr. in Lake Orion, an area called Swiss Village where we lived as I came into teenage years and puberty.
5. Memories of sleeping out in the woods with my best friend at the time.
6. Memories of skinny dipping at night out of boats especially the night of July 20, 1969. About five of us were swimming and we had thrown our jeans in the boat. Someone turned the boat over trying to climb in and I dive for the clothes. Fortunately, I got them. We got into the house just in time to watch Neil Armstrong take the first steps on the moon.
7. Memories of my first sexual experiences which involved sleepovers and sleeping out.
8. Remembering the people who lived in most of the houses back in 1970.
9. The lake (Lake Orion) after which the township and village are named. We seemed to usually find houses to rent on the lake. 
10. Finding a 15-pound Rib Roast for Christmas dinner at Costco.
11.  A pot of "Boiled Dinner" (which is what my Grandma Ledger called it) cooking on the stove. It's soup made from the end of a ham preferably with the bone, cabbage, carrots, onion, celery, and potatoes. I substitute rutabaga for the potato. Then it cooks quite a while.
12. An afternoon in Lake Orion which stirred up the memories and the stories of my childhood, my mom and her parents, my Aunt Donna & Uncle Joe and so many others.

Always with Love,

Ric

Grateful to Be & Happy Birthday to Me

On my birthday, I am grateful for:

1. Thank You God for this fifty sixth anniversary of my birth into our world. It has been an amazing ride so far and I feel like we are just getting to know each other and I am starting to get the hang of it. Thank You for the Life of me. Your life expressing in, through and as me. I give myself back to you. What is my role this coming year? How do I add value to the souls who cross my path? I love you Love! Looking forward to the second half. I am living in a state of Grace ...
2. Fifty Six Years and approx 9 months ago in an impulse of divine creativity via my parents passion I was conceived.
3. The flowers Cindy brought me and her ongoing friendship and support
4. 20,440 brand new days so far in this lifetime.
5. Martha Creek's friendship and mentoring.
6. Scrambled eggs
7. An awesome outpouring of Love on Facebook today.
8. Great eye exam this morning
9. Finding 5 people to take part in our faces of RU Video project
10. Getting the shopping done for our Thanksgiving Dinner
11. The reawakening desire to be in a relationship

Copyright (c) 2011 by Richard L. Beattie, all rights are reserved.

Five Freeing Ideas

Originally a sermon, these ideas are my personal signposts.

Five Freeing Ideas

1. It is what it is. No matter how much we might try to convince ourselves that a situation is different; no matter how hard we “push”, things are just the way they are. We accept what is at this moment. No rose colored glasses, no drama, no denial, no aggrandizement. We realize that accepting what is does not mean we cannot change; it simply means that we stop deceiving ourselves and we stop fighting with the current reality.
2. It's not about me (or you). No one is out to get me; in fact "they" are not nearly as concerned about me or focused on me as my ego would like me to believe. I am not the center of the known universe nor am I a target of ridicule. I am an intrinsic part of the whole.
3. I forgive and I am forgiven. True forgiveness is coming to realize that every experience I have ever had-- every condition or circumstance in my life--is a perfectly designed opportunity for the unfoldment of my soul. I release the past and open myself fully to the opportunities I am presented with in this moment to evolve spiritually. I let go of my "story." I let go of the trauma and drama that I thought was who I was. I consciously shift from victim to victor.
4. God Is. I am. We Are. One. Who and what I am, in reality, is so different from and so much greater than I dared to think or dream until now. God is everywhere present in my life. The universe is wired in my favor. I am an emanation or expression of the pattern of energy that some call God. God is another name for the life that lives me. Wherever I am, God Is!
5. Freedom is Surrender. Surrendering to the moment-by-moment guidance of Spirit is the ultimate freedom. We do not have to try to figure it out! As we listen with our hearts, get honest with ourselves, and release what we think we know we will be led through any and every circumstance.

Five Freeing Ideas, copyright © 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010

by Richard L. Beattie all rights reserved