Daily Inspiration 1-15-16

"If you can just appreciate each thing, 

one by one, then you will have pure gratitude. 

Even though you observe just one flower, 

the one flower includes everything." 

-- Shunryu Suzuki Roshi 

How can we live in the same world and yet live within each our own world? How can things that we don't like be going on and we not pay attention to them? Aren't we supposed to pay attention to them? It's so hard not to be upset, and to complain. I wish it was different. I wish the world was different, more loving, less violent. I wish it was the way I would like it to be. . .

The answer to these kind of thoughts and many more like them is to begin appreciating which will cause us to stop complaining. Gratitude rules by appreciation. To become truly grateful, we learn to appreciate--regardless of what is going on in that world around us. We find things and people to appreciate and we change our world, while allowing the "other" world to do as it wishes to do.

Here's a little from Abraham, Esther Hicks that says it so well and to me it is exactly like this:

"When you feel gratitude, often you are looking at a difficulty that you have overcome, but there is still some of that "struggle" vibration present. The state of appreciation is seeing whatever you are looking at through the eyes of Source. . . You could walk down a crowded street with all kinds of things that a lot of other people would find reason to criticize or worry about, and you would not have access to them because your vibration of appreciation is picking out for you things of a different vibrational nature." 

Here's another good way I have found: I change my gaze. So, I'm driving across town and the traffic is heavy at this time, so I don't complain about traffic or how much longer it is taking, I change my gaze from the traffic to something pleasing. I might look at a specific car or truck and find appreciation for that, or the sky, or the clouds in the sky, or people standing on the corner waiting to cross. There are any number of things that I can focus on instead of the thing that would cause me to complain.

The antidote for complaining is appreciation. The antidote for unhappiness is appreciation. The antidote for anything negative or bad feeling is appreciation. In fact, I would have to say that it is a universal antidote for a better life.


I Change My Gaze To A View Of Something I Can Appreciate. 

Spread Some Joy Today--love and joy are united. Go spread some love and you will be spreading joy.