GRATITUDE MONTH: DAY 27: “Great things happen to those who don’t stop believing, trying, learning, and being grateful.” ― Roy T. Bennett
This is so true! My life is full of great events…great events! There is little I have ever desired that has not been brought about at some time during my recovery. There are still dreams in my heart (not the crap in my head…thank goodness I know the difference!) that I am willing to wait and see how they manifest into my experience.
Since early on in this journey, I have kept journals and notes around me about what I am experiencing, and I have come to see the great events unfold from one year into the next. How lovely that is! I am much more patient to let them unfold in the time of the Universe instead of making demands and having unrealistic expectations of life, myself and the Universe as I did in the early days.
The unfolding of my life has had some unexpected and unwelcomed events as well. Today I can see the beauty and perfection of them all. That is the gift of time in this recovery thing. That I get to see, as Judy Collins so beautifully put it “from both sides now.” That is one of the amazing gifts of mindfulness, meditation, along with a strong gratitude and writing practice.
As things come and pass in this world, we are invited to see what their message is. Few folks I talk to about this take the time. They are busy moving on to the next thing and finding ways to stay busy and focused on either the past or the future. It is more demanding to be in the moment, and few can stay there enough to sit with their feelings and the story of the experience and either reframe the story or see all the sides of the story.
My only issue with the quote above is the “trying” part. I don’t believe it is a word we can benefit from and really work to get those I work with to remove it from their vocabulary. I am like Yoda…I do not believe there is any such thing. When someone tells me they are “trying”, my experience with them is that they are NOT willing to do what they say they are trying to do. I am all about the doing or the not doing of the thing. You are doing it or you are not.
To demonstrate that, I usually drop something on the ground and ask them to “try” to pick it up. You are going to pick the thing up, or not. There is no “try”.
But I know that I have never stopped believing, learning, or being grateful. When there is something to do, I am doing it. If I don’t know what to do, nothing is usually the best bet, as that mean old sponsor, Allene, said so many years ago.
By the way, if you are wondering, there IS a song about AA that Allene taught me too. It was what she used to call the “AA Anthem” and those of us who loved her so dearly called the “Allene Anthem”. It is a perfect fit for Gratitude Month, or when we are afraid, or when we are in awe of this gratitude thing as it is unfolding in front of our eyes. I sing it, often out loud, when I walk on the beach by myself. (I embarrass others quite often when I sing it after I pitch in a meeting; I care not!)
The song is sung to the tune of “O! Christmas Tree!” and the words are these: “Oh thank you God, oh thank you God…” and I sing the entire song all the way through with those words. It is a lovely thing and often brings tears of love and gratitude to my eyes. It is only one more thing in my life for which I am deeply and forever grateful!
Dolphin Hug 