As we move into the holiday season and a time of gift giving, it’s also the ideal time to explore what it means to receive and how to do this with more intentionality.
With that in mind, I’m going to dive deeply into the concept of receiving and how- especially for those of us (givers) for whom that is difficult- we can allow ourselves to experience even more of it!
If you’re wondering why this is important, let me clarify.
In truth, receiving IS the entire game. What I mean is that God/the universe/universal mind/conscious awareness- or however you think about higher self/spirit is ALWAYS trying to give us more love, goodness, support and help.
I don’t need to tell you that the world situation is, to quote Tom Robbins, “desperate as usual.”
In truth, it feels even worse than usual as systems and structures collapse all around us.
Not to be morbid…but the rate of change is too fast! None of us can keep up, not with technology, with AI, with the news cycle, none of it.
Our nervous systems are simply unequipped to manage this level of change/ chaos/however you define it.
Part of why the rate of change continues to increase, is because we’re in what mystics are calling a “celestial speedup.”
Last blog I shared a meditation/prayer practice with you called the centering prayer. If you missed it, here’s a link to the post.
As a quick review, here’s the basic idea:
1. Choose a word (or phrase) to focus on during your meditation.
2. Ensure that you’re sitting comfortably with your eyes closed.
Begin repeating the word or phrase silently to yourself over and over again slowly. Deepen into the phrase, slowly and intentionally, giving your thought-mind something to focus on. If your phrase is: “I rest in God,” begin by saying that phrase. Eventually it may become “I rest,” or “God” that gets repeated as you slow down and deepen into the words.
Today I have a cool meditation/prayer for you.
It’s called the Centering Prayer.
The Christian contemplative, Cynthia Bourgeault, has written extensively about this practice and teaches this technique around the world! It’s a way of praying that allows us to loosen our minds from thought and enter that transcendental space that can often feel elusive.
She shares that this practice was popularized by Father Thomas Keating, a Trappist priest. He was one of the first people to promote the Centering Prayer which is based on a 14th century Christian mystical text called The Cloud of Unknowing.
Ready for the final installment about using gratitude to live the life you’ve come here to have?
Let’s do a quick review first.
First we covered exploring gratitude as a REACTION. In other words, cultivating gratitude for what you have in your life right now. Are you still doing your list every day?
Second, we dove into the idea of adopting a PHILOSOPHY of gratitude. The invitation being to experience life through the lens of gratitude.
Today we’re going to the deepest level, IDENTITY.
We are now at the last pillar of well-being which is defined as purpose.
Purpose has had a resurgence of interest in the past few years, and I confess to have done my fair share of contemplation with it!
Most inquiries around purpose seem to focus on action, as in what you do, how you do it and then show up in the world. But underneath that is another layer, isn’t there? It’s the motivation behind the action.
When I lived in Hong Kong in the 1990s, one of my closest friends was a painter. And whenever I’d get too insular, too focused on the nuts and bolts of my life’s journey, she’d remind me to “view the mountain from the plain.”
As you walk this spiritual path, it can be easy get consumed with looking at your feet, at the rocks and puddles along the way, and forget to take in the larger expanse, the view!
Why not do that right now?
Take a moment to zoom out. View your life’s journey from afar.
Where are you?
What have you accomplished thus far?
Part of why I appreciate her words is that they help us to remember to honor ourselves and the journey we have already undertaken.
