Gratitude and Acceptance

I love the way life gives us answers when we are searching for them, and especially at moments when we least expect them. I call these moments "God moments."

This morning I heard the words, "Part of gratitude is acceptance."

Just 5 little words I heard Michael J. Fox say in an interview about the hardship he has endured in his life, and they hit me like a brick wall... as if they were being said just for me.

"Woah!" I thought. "Wait a minute!"

It was an ah-ha moment.

I love ah-ha moments!

If I'm going to remain in a grateful state of being - a choice I try to make every day no matter what is happening around me -

believing as I do that everything happens for our greater good,

knowing that there is blessing in living life every single minute of every day;

if I'm going to stay in the consciousness of light (hope and love) instead of the darkness (fear and gloom);

if I'm to shine the path of the way-shower that I desire to be, and that I believe myself to me;

then I must also accept the hardship that accompanies any particular moment and see that hardship for the learning opportunity inherent in it,

whether that hardship is frustration with what's happening in the world around me; concern for something happening in the lives of one of my family members, clients, or friends; or feeling upset that there are those who question my stance on something or who dislike a choice or decision I have made for myself.

Triggers to heated emotions are messages to us!

We all want to be liked.

We all want to be loved for who we are.

We all like to believe we know what's right.

But here's the thing.

We DO each know what's right for us... in the moment.

Free-will allows us each to make the best choices and decisions for ourselves and those we are responsible for at any given moment, based on what we know in that moment -based on what we've read, what we've heard, what we've intuited, our life experience, our current mental state, and our individual personality.

And many of these things are in a constant state of flux. We are not static creatures; we are dynamic, constantly changing beings!

We believe something different than what we currently believe when we have the experience, or life event, or conversation, or moment of self-analysis and clarity that leads us in a new direction of thinking or seeing.

We grow and learn our entire lives.

We change our minds regularly.

We trigger intense feelings in one another, especially when someone disagrees with us, or someone is deemed by us to have judged us unfairly.

If we can accept this fact, and if we can choose to love one another understanding this fact about ourselves and about human nature as a whole;

if we can see each struggle, every fear, every disagreement, and every heartache as a learning opportunity;

then we can remain in gratitude for ALL that is and for all that happens, knowing it's all a gift!

You and your thinking in this moment are a gift to someone else and their thinking in this moment.

What's happening in the world right now is a gift that is challenging your beliefs, challenging your relationships, forcing you to search deep within yourself for what feels right, showing you your strengths and weaknesses, and stretching you out of your comfort zone, all for a reason. GROWTH! ENLIGHTENMENT!

Every encounter with another is an opportunity.

When we accept that everything happens FOR us instead of TO us,

and that these events and uncomfortable encounters are reminders,

messages to decipher,

and opportunities for growth,

we can change our viewpoint from one of judgement to one of acceptance,

from acceptance to introspection,

from introspection to insight,

from insight to growth,

from growth to gratitude -

gratitude for the gift of learning,

of coming closer to understanding and living pure unconditional love.

When we choose to remain focused on positive "feeling" thoughts instead of negative ones,

when we stay in the state of gratitude's higher energy frequency,

we emit love and acceptance instead of judgement.

We shine the path forward to others searching for answers,

We open the door for only goodness and light (and health!) to enter and to multiply.

We radiate the love that is God.

We heal ourselves, we heal our families, we heal divisiveness within our communities,

and in so doing, we send healing into the world.

Choose acceptance.

Choose gratitude.

Choose it over and over and over! ♥

©Chris Colyer