Radical Gratitude Challenge: Week #4 – Where the Rubber Meets the Road!
It’s not hard to be grateful when something is going well. This week while planning this challenge, many lost their homes to California wild fires. I was grateful my son’s home in northern CA was spared.
He is a helicopter pilot. I was especially grateful that he came home safely after finishing his all night shift rescuing people during 70 mph winds.
These are easy things for which to be thankful. But can we stretch into gratitude for a home and all belongings burned in that fire? Or a child who has become drug addicted? Or a struggling marriage? Or a spouse who dies before his time? Or an illness that places harsh limits on your life?
This is where the rubber meets the road.
You may be asking, “What is the advantage to being thankful about hard, painful things? Why should I?”
Because gratitude opens the heart. Being thankful for the hard stuff is the ultimate expression of faith. You may not share my faith. That’s no problem. Whether you talk to your God, or the Universe, it hears you. It responds to your open heart.
An open heart says, “I’m open to whatever good can come from this pain. I’m open to see new opportunities brought to me by this disaster. I’m open to learning new lessons that will benefit me in ways I can’t predict right now. I’m open to a Wisdom that is beyond my limited vision.”
And then you persevere. You put one foot in front of the other. You ask for help. You do your best to be grateful even while in pain, and waiting for the Grand Plan to reveal itself. You find joy in small gifts…the companionship of a loyal animal, a neighbor who awkwardly expresses their sympathy, the hug of your spouse, a lost keepsake returned to you.
You may think, “Now she’s gone too far. I don’t want to hear her preaching!” This is not preaching. It’s teaching a universal life lesson! It’s expanding your consciousness of what may be possible!
Next week I’ll share a few of the hard, painful stuff for which I have been thankful, sometimes while pounding a pillow and screaming my pain…
Are you ready to try out this road with me? To accept the challenge where the rubber meets the road? I’d love to hear from you!
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