Being Grateful

I have been really angry with my body over the past couple of days. After a great weekend, I awoke on Monday to a slight fever, aches and unbearable fatigue. This unfortunately lasted a full 48 hours putting me behind in my work and my daily “to dos”. I am pretty sure I was having a flare up of my rheumatoid arthritis most likely due to too much socializing and eating the wrong things.Regardless, as if I really had control over such things, I was a bit annoyed with myself and my uncoperative body.

That is why I was especially taken by something my instructor said this morning at the beginning of my second yoga class. She said, “be grafeful for your body”. It kind of snapped me back into reality. So, I am not feeling well, but I can still move. Besides, as they say, this too shall pass. I am already feeling a bit better and although I had to cancel plans tonight with a friend, I am grateful that I at least had the energy to get my grocery shopping done. This means I can get back on track with more healthful eating which always makes me feel better.

So, with all these thoughts of gratitude swimming in my head, I turned on Oprah this afternoon. The show was all about the power of positive feelings, the laws of attraction, and of course gratitude. It is really amazing stuff to think that what you feel and believe can truly manifest itself into what happens in your life. There were a couple of things that really resonated with me. One of the guests (a life coach) said you have to let go of shallow wants because “if you don’t need anything. It all comes to you.” I honestly have to say that over the past year I have truly felt that I didn’t really want or NEED anything which has given me much greater peace and happiness. It is so freeing to not want anything. In addition, it truly does seem that not needing or wanting anything has presented me with a lot of positive outcomes.

Another issue that came up in the show is the concept of forgiveness. Oprah was quick to point out that forgiveness is not allowing someone who has done you wrong to be rewarded or accepted, but rather forgiving someone is the act of simply letting go and separating yourself from the experience. That is really big! I have had a hard time forgiving people who hurt me because I believed I was condoning their behavior by doing so, but that isn’t true at all. Forgiveness is not about the person who did you wrong, it is about yourself. Healing yourself and moving on. Under that definition I am better able to put the hurtful behavior of others behind me and look at things with a fresh perspective. What is done is done and I can’t change that, but I can move forward with positivity.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *