Just for today, I’ll give thanks for all my many blessings.
In this fast-paced world, it’s so easy to take stock of all that we have. I remember as a child and a young adult, going through lists of what I had in my life. This included the food that I ate, the place where I lived, and the people in my life.
And it included all the people and beings who brought me the food that I ate. Even though I set this as a ritual the business of life took over and soon I wasn’t practicing gratitude any longer. By not practicing gratitude I became seduced by lack, limitation, and greed. I developed an acquisition mind (also known as consumerism).
It wasn’t enough to have a new pair of jeans. I needed new shoes and a new wardrobe. Suddenly, the clothing that I had once been on my gratitude list lacked luster. It was if some strange fairy had put a dark spell over me. And the only release was to practice gratitude again. When we take inventory on all that we have, we are more likely to release ourselves from the cage of poverty-consciousness. We might decide that we have too much and give some things away to a new owner.
There have been movements during the past decades of volunteering to simplify our lives. There have been brave souls who gave away their possessions to live “tiny” as in living in a tiny home or homelike van. There have been people who chose to return to the land which is the complete opposite of consumerism. I’m not saying that buying things we love is a bad practice, but when those things begin to own us and create fear in our lives or keep us stuck in unworkable situations because we don’t want to lose the house, the car, or the status relationship, then trouble comes knocking on the door.
The Fourth Reiki Principle
Say that everyday you had to sit down and give thanks for every object or possession in your life, including all your gemstones, crystals, food in the cabinet, and every article of clothing you own, among everything else you owned. Imagine how tedious this would be. But in doing so you take inventory of all that you have. And maybe you suddenly feel burdened by the weight of your possessions.
When I packed up my belongings to move across the country, it was easy for me to give items away. These were items that years earlier I would not have parted with. These were items that I stayed up at night worrying that I could lose through theft, fire, a flood, or an earthquake. After all, hadn’t I seen news footage of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and major earthquakes? Or I saw images of people who lost their homes from wildfires–losing all their possessions. What a tragedy, right?
But then another thought occurred to me. Maybe in the Divine Order of those lost possessions and possibly a lifestyle lost too, those folks experience an awakening and have the chance to start over without anything holding them back. Or it could be tragic where the people suffer from post trauma and aren’t permitted to return to the life they once had–grieving every step of the way. Who can blame them? It’s where their consciousness is at. In either case, it’s up to them to decide how they’re going to respond and none of us can do that for them.
But what does happen is we are reminded of all that we still have. And for some of us, we choose to share what we no longer or need or what would be of better use to the people who suffered the loss. We open our hearts in love and with gratitude because we move beyond poverty consciousness and we trust in the infinite flow of abundance.
The Reiki practice could just be the simple statement, “Just for today, I give thanks for all that I have,” followed by a meditation. Or it could come in the form of lists of all that we have.
I know that when I moved, I forgot about most of what I owned. Most of it was stuffed in a relocation cube for several months. I evolved during the time I was separated from my stuff so when I was reunited, some of the belongings were no longer relevant to my new self. This isn’t to say that stuffing our belongings in a shipping container and getting stranded in a community with no rentals, is a healthy practice (that’s what I did unintentionally). However, be thankful for our personal evolution which is also part of the Reiki path.
Final Words (On this topic)
The irony is that the more we give (even by giving thanks), the more we receive, but since our souls find satisfaction in a gratitude practice, we might choose not to sit at the banquet any longer. We might choose freedom above the stuff we own. We might sell the home, sell the cars, or give away an entire closet of clothing to charity. In the process, we lose the acquisition mindset and Reiki has finally set us free to live a truly fulfilling life.
“It is in giving, that we receive.”–Saint Francis of Assisi Prayer (Make Me an Instruments of Your Peace).
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Metaphysics 4 Everyday Living 