Gratitude for the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
It is the month of gratitude, or rather the month we collectively consciously think about gratitude. Here in the States, Thanksgiving is on November 26th and on that day, the country will be peaceful and quiet as we gather with friends and family to share a beautiful feast together.
Grateful for this place, The Land of the Medicine Buddha in Santa Cruz
This time of year, many of us start thinking about what we are grateful for. Most of us think of the obvious – food, shelter, loved ones, warm clothes, etc. I for one, am super grateful to be living in our first house after six years of living in various bleak apartments. I’m also grateful for the love that has been in my life this year, sunny days in Seattle, the trail by the lake, and the Beecher’s cheese I’ve stumbled upon in Seattle.
While we think about gratitude, it is also natural to think about the things it is difficult to be grateful for. Personally, I’ve faced many challenges this year, and really, who hasn’t? I’m learning though, that gratitude encompasses the not so obvious. In my own life and after ten years of working with clients, I can see that everything that happens to us is ultimately trying to bring us closer to wholeness and greater freedom inside. Everything we experience is here for our upliftment. Whether it be trauma, death of loved ones, illness, financial loss, heartbreak, or other kind of challenge.
All that we experience is here to serve us.
Even the struggles, challenges, and difficulties are ultimately here to work for us. And for that, I am grateful.
It may not be obvious how a difficulty is here to serve us, and that’s ok. Sometimes difficult experiences come in to shift us onto our true path, sometimes they are here to clear a karma, sometimes they are here to help us to release our grip on external safety so we begin to find safety within.
Everything we experience is here to ultimately uplift us. It may take time, it may take help, it may take desperate prayers, but someday, and in some way, we will eventually begin to understand how the hard things in life helped us.
It isn’t easy, and I know. But eventually, you may even find gratitude for even the experiences in your life you’ve labeled as “bad” or “unfair.”
The deepest gratitude is coming to a place of gratefulness for all the experiences in your life. All of them.
And if that seems preposterous or impossible, that’s ok too. Can you hold the possibility for yourself that one day, you might, just possibly, maybe see how this difficult thing has served you? All you have to do is stay open to the possibility that someday, in some way, a higher understanding of your life and your challenges might hit you.
A deeper gratitude is waiting. A gratitude that encompasses all of our experiences, the good, the bad, and the ugly. If you can tap into that gratitude, great. You’ll feel a warmth so deep in your body, it will feel like coming home. If not, that’s ok too. You are still valuable, lovable, and completely worthy. Nothing will ever change that, and for that, I am grateful.