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who had murdered my grandmother in my arms, forgave him, and asked him to forgive himself. In that moment, I experienced awe, gratitude, and unconditional love.
As Oriah Mountain Dreamer states it takes a certain kind of courage to allow gratitude to arise within our hearts. We know that in an impermanent world, all that we love will change, is impermanent. To let ourselves love and be loved anyway, to feel and express our gratitude for lives and experiences we know are unpredictable means holding our fears about loss tenderly without letting them stifle our enthusiasm for life. Of course, what feels like shrinking or expanding differs from person to person- we are the only one who can know for sure if we are shrinking our lives to accommodate our fears or finding the courage to let life expand within and around us.
When we are fully present in the moment there is no place for fear. Fear lives in the past or future. It is impossible to feel fear, worry, and negativity when we engage in gratitude from its truest sense. Gratitude lives in the state of love, in the present now. You can’ t feel miserable and grateful at the same time. Being fully present leads to courage. Here’ s why: When you’ re present, you see reality – without past worries or future fears. Learning to fully tune in cuts your ego out of the equation, which then eliminates fear.
When we’ re not present, we tend to hyper analyze reality, which – depending on our emotional mindset at the time – leads us to slant the world in a falsely positive or negative angle. Of course, most of the time, we choose the negative view. Being fully present in the moment lends itself to pure,
It takes a certain kind of courage to allow gratitude to arise within our hearts.
We know that in an impermanent world, all that we love will change, is impermanent. To let ourselves love and be loved anyway, to feel and express our gratitude for lives and experiences we know are unpredictable means holding our fears about loss tenderly without letting them stifle our enthusiasm for life.
– ORIAH MOUNTAIN DREAMER
unfiltered vision. In this state, we experience objective reality and see things exactly as they are. Presence doesn’ t mean a perfect life. It does, however, mean a courageous, confident life.
Because gratitude expresses courage, it spreads calm. Calm of this kind is quite compatible with deep emotions. When you are grateful, your heart is open— open towards others, open for surprise. You can feel either grateful or alienated, but never
WISDOM & SELF-GROWTH
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