DAY 24: TWO LITTLE WORDS THAT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE
A simple technique that can transform your world.
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Hi %%FIRST_NAME%%,
You may be wondering by now why there’s a ‘thank you’ in the meditation this week. Have you noticed how it feels, doing that part of the meditation? Have you been experiencing resistance to it? Have you been diving in and enjoying it?
It tends to have a bit of a ‘Marmite reaction’, when you first do it: you either love it, or you don’t.
So why are we using ‘thank you’ in this week’s meditation?
The answer is simple.
When we whinge and complain, we feel bad. Not only does it affect our emotions, but also our body, mind and spirit.
Complaining makes us tense up and can lead to ‘dis-ease’, which can lead to disease – physically, mentally and emotionally.
It also programmes our mind, at an unconscious level, to look for more things that are wrong, to support our ‘preferred way of thinking’ – i.e. complaining.
It’s a truth in life that we tend to get what we think about. Just like me with my driving lessons, in a previous message (I used to drive towards whatever I was looking at), so it is with life. If we are talking about, and therefore focussing on, what is bad or wrong, or might be bad or might go wrong, then that’s what we’re steering ourselves towards. It’s what we’re setting our radar to notice.
Moving to thinking from a place of gratitude, rather than dissatisfaction, is a subtle, yet transformational, shift.
It really doesn’t matter if you’re not feeling like saying “Thank you!” It doesn’t matter if you can’t think of anything specific to say thank you for. In fact, it works much more effectively if you just repeat the ‘thank you’ without anything in mind to say thank you for. Why? Because that would be connecting with your ‘thinking mind’ and this exercise is about engaging your heart, not your head. It also makes our ‘thank you’ conditional, because we are effectively saying, “Thank you for this, but perhaps not for that.”
So repeating ‘thank you’ will help you relax into opening your heart.
The simple act of genuine, unconditional gratitude has the power to change your life. And what better time to practise it than when you’re concentrating – when you’re meditating?
It sets the ‘filters’ your mind uses to choose how to experience life. You will notice more of the things that are good, beautiful and going well. At a deeper level, it helps us to learn how to feel grateful, even for the things that perhaps aren’t quite to our taste, which is an incredibly useful life skill, especially if you are on a path of spiritual development. And genuine gratitude puts a smile on your face, much more easily than grumbling ever could. So you’ll find yourself wandering round with a spontaneous, gentle smile. And we all know the knock-on effect that can have for us and those around us.
What if you don’t like it?
When doing this week’s meditation, you may find that there is resistance to saying thank you – and that’s ok. If you’re experiencing that, just accept it, but keep saying thank you. After a point, that resistance will reduce and the power of your thank you will start to shift your mood, your body and your mind. When you have got into the rhythm of this meditation, you may find that there is a tangible shift in your heart area, as the power of the word allows you to connect with the love and gratitude – and even joy, deep inside you. This is, perhaps unbelievably, our natural state of being.
The grumbles and complaints that run through our minds are merely symptoms of the hectic, stressful lifestyle that most of us lead. These grumps mask our true, inner radiance. The thank you process is a way of uncovering it again, so you can create a pathway back to it. And, like any pathway, it needs to be walked regularly, to prevent it from becoming overgrown again.
Walking a path once may dent the grass, but it soon springs back. Walking it several times starts to flatten the grass. But walking it every day, even for a few moments, eventually creates a path that is clear and easy to follow.
And so it is when you tread the path to reconnect with your true nature.
This practice doesn’t have to wait for your meditation space. You can use it as a mindfulness practice, anywhere, any time. If you’re feeling tense and stressed, tread that path. If you’re feeling rushed and disconnected, tread that path. If you’re feeling sad or lonely, tread that path.
It doesn’t matter ‘who’ you are saying thank you to. It doesn’t matter ‘what’ you are saying thank you for. All that matters is that your ‘thank you’ becomes genuine and heart-felt.
If you’d like to take this practice deeper and nurture heart-felt gratitude as part of your daily experience of life, you could join us over at The Miracle Of Gratitude: www.MiracleOfGratitude.com
Wishing you joy, love and gratitude in your heart, today and every day.
Day 24 Affirmation
Today I choose to say ‘thank you’ – for everything.
Namaste,
Clare
P. S. Tomorrow we’ll finally be getting back to that question of ‘what on earth does meditation feel like?’, from the ‘Getting Started’ section.
P.P.S. The key links you need for week four are:
Online Forum:
https://www.clarejosa.com/forum/28-day-meditation-challenge-online-course-1/
Week 4 Meditation:
www.28daymeditationchallenge.com/home/#week4