And for All of It…..

If I could click my heels together and magically rewind us backward six months, oh, in an instant, I would.

If I could click my heels together and magically rewind us,
Imagine
The losses reversed,
The pain released,
The families reunited,
The stability renewed.

If I could click my heels together and magically rewind us….
If I could.
Oh.
If I could.

And yet, magical thinking is not a spiritual practice.
Spiritual practice, mindful living invites us into a relationship with life as it is.

As it is.

I was participating in my 7:00 a.m. Twelve Step Zoom meeting the other morning and I had an epiphany.
Almost physical, it rushed through me, this insight, this knowing.

Some background; this morning group came into my life during these last months of lockdown.  Previously, of course, meetings were in-person.  (Remember in-person things?)  This is a 12 Step group based in Maine complete with wonderful, recovering mensches, (a Yiddish word meaning a person of integrity and honor).  I have found a home there, a few mornings a week.  The meeting has been a game-changer for me.  I feel more connected, more on a learning curve, more alive with a new group of peeps.

The other morning, somebody was sharing and said, “Oh, won’t it be good when we return to our in-person format and sit together again.”

My heart constricted.

I will never be sitting with those people
In a meeting room
In a church
Somewhere.

I am hundreds of miles away.

After that constriction of loss,
Came a breath,
And after that breath
Came in insight:

I realized the gift
Of being
With these
Wonderful
People
Came to me
Wrapped in this hideous, horrifying, terrifying
Lockdown.

A gift of the pandemic.
A gift in the midst of
The loss
Of life
And income
Of reality
As we know it.

In the midst of that heartbreak, there lives the gift.

Spiritual practice, mindful living invites us into a relationship with life as it is.
Gratitude softens.
Gratitude opens the door.
Gratitude, like on the yoga mat,
Relaxes us into the moment
In the flow state.

It is
The easier, softer way.

The intent of gratitude is not to transcend above the feelings or the moment.
It is to give us the courage and the willingness to face the moment.
To relax
Into
The
Moment,

To remind ourselves
Of what is,

To invite
More
Grace
To
Flood
Us.

~~~

Wise-Woman Oprah W. says:

“Be thankful for what you have, you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never ever have enough.”

~~~

Focusing on what is
Opens the door
To more.

Focusing on what isn’t
Blocks our channel.

Let us practice
Seeing
What is.

Let us
Imagine
The gifts
Emerging.

Let us be
Right
Here
And
Right now
As best
We can.

~~~

Friends, there are so many fascinating articles documenting the research done on gratitude and the brain.  Here is one insightful article about the impact of gratitude on the brain, from the magazine, Mindful.  If you are interested, Mr. and Mrs. Google can support your investigation.

https://www.mindful.org/what-the-brain-reveals-about-gratitude/

And, a gift for our hearts, a short film by Louie Schwartzberg, Gratitude.

~

Dear Friends, be safe, be well.

With gratitude for what is.

With hope for what might be,

Aruni

~~~

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Wisdom Circles—

1. Create community; connect to yourself, to one another, and to the teachings.  You are not alone. For the month of August, our circles will be held on Thursdays.  Here is the link:
   Thursday, August 27, @ 2:00 EST  http://coacharuni.com/thursdaycircles/