Day 24 - 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. The first "Song Around The World" I heard was Stand By Me compiled by Playing For Change. It still makes me smile and tears me up after ten years of listening.
2. A wonderful breakfast meeting with my friend David this morning.
3. Excitement about our evolving Civic Engagement/Beyond Polarization/?? experiences.
4. Adding a new member to URO today.
5. Our server was a delightful woman!
6. Fluffy and cheesy eggs at Care Muse.
7. Remembering that the structures have 2 hours free during the day, so I walked a block and got free parking.
8. Enrolling in an affordable vision plan through UWM.
9. Remembering to print return address labels for CJ.
10. Managing an almost legible note in several cards.
11. An amazing clerk named Kim at a local men's clothing store who helped me get my wardrobe together for Christmas Eve. 

Peace and Plenty on this planet. Peace and Plenty here and now!

Love,

Ric

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