Daily Inspiration 8-16-16

"Whenever I am 

being my mind's bitch, 

I am not living 

in my natural state of joy." 

-- Pam Grout 

How many times have we heard the phrase, "practice makes perfect?" Or, maybe it was, "practice, practice, practice," if you were an athlete or a musician. Some might have said, "if you're gonna be good at it, you're gonna have to practice," or "you've gotta put in the time to get the gold." There's hundreds of them, I'm sure, and I think that unless you're serious about getting there, many are not willing to practice because it is often seen as hard work, no fun, I got better things to do.

I suppose it depends on what we want to practice. But even more than that, it depends on how we feel about practice.

What about gratitude? There's a world of benefit in practicing gratitude. And is it work? Is it hard? Does it sap our energy? Not. It only requires a decision to do so and then simply do it, and the more often we do it, the more gratitude we have and feel, and the more benefits and blessings that come upon on us from all quarters.

In Pam Grout's latest book, Thank and Grow Rich (It's not about money, by the way. It's about real wealth!), she states that it is important to put everything into perspective. She says, "I have been accused of being unrealistic, a crazy idealist, not in touch with the real world. "It's impossible," my detractors insist, "for someone to live in gratitude all the time. Sh*t happens." 

She agreed, and continued, "However, 99.9 percent of life, even during the sh*t storm, still operates in perfect working order, continues to run as efficiently as that annoying Energizer Bunny." 

She says, "Anyone who thinks life is nothing but an ordeal is clearly deluded." Then she lists some examples of the beginning of a "bad day," where what she wanted to wear is wrinkled and in the laundry basket, the freeway is crawling and people aren't paying attention, things are not going well at work, and the list can go on for hours, "And. . . " she adds, "you were created from stars, free liquid falls from the sky--do you know how remarkable that is? You live on a planet with just the right amount of oxygen, and just the right ratio of just the right gases," and that list will go on to infinity.

It all depends on where we choose--and we always and in all ways choose--to put our perspective, or how we choose to view or see a situation. And our perspective has everything to do with how we feel and how we feel has everything to do with where we are, what we have, who we are right now.

Can we give thanks, appreciate, be in gratitude for everything? Even the so-called bad things? The answer to this is absolutely, yes. But, that's not the question that matters. The question that matters is not can we, but will we?


Therein Lies The Dilemma. And The Inevitable Results. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by being willing to practice allowing it. It is not something that is searched for and found, as it is always there, only awaiting our allowing of it to be realized.