Gratitude Generates Greatness

Today, I find myself sitting at my dining room table by myself in silence. I'm so thankful for the time to sit with myself and with nothing going on around me. I hear the clock ticking and the birds chirping and the light sound of my fingers touching the keyboard. Later, I found myself at Starbucks (alone) in silence, breathing, listening, breathing, watching, breathing, sitting. I am finally learning the art of being present; being "still," if you will.

I've finished my reading of A New Earth. I am ready to re-read it because each time I pick it up to refer back to a quote or a chapter, I take something new from the reading. This book, in addition to many other books, has helped me to re-shape my life, my thoughts, my attitudes. No matter your religion or beliefs, this book is more than those labels; more than those words. It transcends all of those stereotypes and points to the truth of living and being in the present moment at all times. This, in turn, allows my relationships to prosper, my friendships to prosper, enhances all the contacts that I have with people and allows me to become closer to those that I love. I'm beginning to believe that our attitude, our sense of awareness in turn generates a sense of peace in our lives and with our interactions with other people. Those people will pick up our energy before they will "buy into" our words.

An example of this is my ongoing battle with Avery's eating, potty training, or sleeping habits. When I'm reactive, angry, upset with her when she's screaming, or resisting, she just screams later and more often and resists more. I've learned that when I react to her with that negative energy she returns it back to me 10 fold. I think that we all have found ourselves in this encounter with our children, our family, or maybe our co-workers.

I reflect back to my interview for my new position. They asked me "What makes you different from the other candidates? Why do you stand out?" My answer was encircled around my already mentioned technology experience, but I added that my attitude is one thing that makes me stand out. I've had many things happen in my lifetime and many people would have thrown in the towel and taken the other road. I decided to keep my attitude of gratitude and lift myself higher. Attitude is everything.

When push comes to shove I can usually find something good about a situation. My reading of A New Earth just reinforced that thought process and pushed me to a little higher level as far as my awareness. I'm more aware now of what I say to others, what I ask, what I do, how I go about doing it, what's making me unhappy, what's making my body act crazy. I've become more aware of other things, too. I rethink the things I'm putting into my body and listening to it more than ever. If my gut says that XYZ aren't good for me, then I find another alternative, food, medicine, or method. I didn't always do this and have decided that for the most part I have done XYZ because that is what I was taught, what I watched, or what I believed was the "only way." I simply have been following the "crowd" instead of thinking on my own or trusting my instinct.

So, here I am now, a little more aware, a little more peaceful, and a lot more "still."