Back in 2014, I was tiring of many of the components of traditional medicine. I didn’t want my encounters to be all about medicine doses, lab values, and all that boring clinical, technological stuff. I wanted some heart and soul in the medicine I did every day. So, I thought I would ask my patients what kept them going in the face of overwhelming medical issues and struggles.
Here is an example of what I learned from one woman. It was December 27 9:15 AM. She was a 77-year-old woman with a multitude of issues. She had diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, blood pressure issues, arthritis, and pain all the time. I asked her how she kept going with this multitude of medical issues.
She said “Well, I have to. We had to raise ourselves because my mother died early. We just had to get up and keep going. So that’s what I do. I just do it.”
Then I asked “So, so if you’re overwhelmed sometimes by this and it seems like too much, how do you rejuvenate?”
She said “God. I am thankful for every day he gives me. I wake up in the morning and the first thing I do is say thank you to Him for the day and thank you to Him for being Him”.
“So”, I said, “it’s about faith and gratitude”. “Yes, that’s all it is”.
Gratitude – a simple word and yet so deeply powerful. Gratitude is so much more than just saying “thank you”; when you step into gratitude you enter a soft space. Your aggravation dissolves, and a peace comes over you. You have landed back where everything is alright and will always be alright. You again are reminded that you are an integral part of the Earth-Sky-Heart holy triad, and when you acknowledge your role in that Trinity, you are soothed and filled with a quiet power.
When you are in the space of Gratitude, you are never alone. You are surrounded by all the unseen helpers – your Higher Self, God, the Angels, Nature Spirits, and the list goes on and on. And you feel their presence. When you step into the space named Gratitude, you have opened the door and invited the Others in.
Today, as in many days in the past 6 months, I have desperately needed that soft space. Sometimes I don’t remember that Gratitude is there, waiting for me. And, in reflection, that day of forgetting did not go as well as others in which my recall was outstanding. On those days when I do remember to catch my breath, to step in again, drop all the literal world heaviness, and join Gratitude – well, those are days when I am able to pull around me the cloak of calm that is offered.
Gratitude has no room for worries, for anxiety, for irritation. Gratitude is barred from taking in thoughts of aggravation, and actually lets no thinking in at all. Gratitude feels, washes over, whispers; a heart space where all is smooth, all thorns subdued. A heart space in which I am back in alignment, ready to walk my true path again.
Today, I encourage you to make Gratitude your friend and daily ally. As the world goes through its crazy gyrations, coax your day back to center. Ask Gratitude to stand by your side ready to offer her salve and balm. Punctuate your day communing with her. Return home.