Gratitude - Day 22

"Evermore thanks."
Shakespeare
Today my gratitude is centered on the fact that I did NOT lose my debit card.
I don't know how ladies carry tiny little handbags and still know where everything is inside it. Perhaps the point of having a small purse is so you don't have to carry everything except the kitchen sink with you from place to place. I seem to need the comfort of a crammed full purse.
I've tried purses that are made with all kinds of pockets and slots for organizing purposes. My problem is not being organized in the first place, it is staying that way. Back in March I spent my dad's birthday money on a Vera Bradley bag, with a matching wallet and credit card case. I have pockets around the edge for pens, and keys, and phone, and notebooks. The wallets are neatly arranged and I've learned what goes in each one.
The problem occurs when, after using a card, I fail to put it back in its appointed slot. I often just slip it into one of the pockets along with receipts, loose change and stray pieces of paper. About once every couple of weeks, I have to go to the very edge of panic before I sit down and replace each item in its appointed place. I'm sure it doesn't sound like it, but I'm much improved!
As I was running around this afternoon, Sweetie kept his usual cool. He seemed to think I would work it all out on my own. And I did! Ta da!
More on the subject of gratitude.
I found an interesting article in the November/December issue of Spirituality& Health that Sweetie bought yesterday during our after movie excusion to Barnes & Noble. According to the author, Steve Lawler, "the most common tool for tough times is a personal version of the phrase 'I count my blessings' or 'shift into gratitude.' The great spiritual traditions all teach the value of gratitude. "*
Lawler quotes philosopher, Charles Eisenstein:
"We are born helpless infants, creatures of pure need with little resource to give, yet we are fed, we are protected, we are clothed and held and soothed, without having done anything to deserve it, without offering anything in exchange. This experience, common to everyone who has made it past childhood, informs our deepest spiritual intuitions. Our default state is gratitude: it is the truth of our existence."
Tonight I wish for you a place for everything and everything in its place.
Merry ME
* Shift into Gratitude - 17 Tools for Our Times, by Steve Lawler, Spirituality & Health, November-December 2009, pg. 49

Comments

Anonymous said…
When I first read Mr. Eisensteins quote I was elated. It made so much sense. Then I began to think more about 'everybody' who makes it trough childhood, say what? So, I've read the statement many times and am bound to say I disagree.
Gratitude is a learned response to a particular stimulus. Babies don't feel gratitude, they feel relief. The are wet, they cry, they get changed, they are relieved. Same goes for hunger. Or being turned over. Or being kootchie-kooed. Eventually, gratitude becomes apparent under loving circumstances.
I've met several kids in the last few months who display no gratitude at all for what they have. They are bitter, manipulative, angry. The treatment they have had (endured) throughout young their lives didn't call for gratitude. It called for relief from whatever phyical, emotional, spiritual, or psychological abuse was heaped upon them. The closest some of these kids get to gratitude is suspicious. They 'know' everybody has an angle, and will exploit them. A 13 month old child who has been shaken to such a degree to have two brain bleeds - unable to see - unable to sit up on his own - unable to communicate knows relief, gratitude is an emotion he may some day be able to master. jdc
November 23, 2009 at 9:23 AM
Fire Byrd said…
Having re read the quote and jdc's comment I'm agreeing with jdc.
Not all kids get good parenting and when they don't they suffer for it whether as children or hidden deep inside until adult life.
Keeps me in work though!
xx
November 24, 2009 at 5:51 PM
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